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Segmented Worm Defense League

So many enemies;

bird, vole, salamander,

angler, captain of industry,

cruelly misnamed worm snake,

and the burrowers from within:

bacterium, protist, fungus;

they need protectin’!

They meet regularly,

dream of dominion,

pass resolutions,

raid fishing holes,

picket garden fences,

swap genetic material.

Maybe the league itself

is in segments.

(one for grass raising,

one for nematode relations,

one predator, one prey,

bylaws and soil amendments,

and so on)

and has no prejudice

against the worms that are

undivided wholes.

--

From my latest speculative-poetry chapbook, SETI Hits Paydirt, published by Popcorn Press. Available from the publisher and from Amazon.