Tiny Studies (Particle 14)

Assignment: survival, your own or someone else’s

A+ Because of you a ball of cosmos turned confetti.
A Because of you a speck of light outran the sky.
A- Because of you some basic building blocks went microbe.
B+ Because of you an ancient runt escaped the tar.
B You were the mutant we now call pusillus.
B- Because of you the Arctic birds trekked on and on.
C+ You were immune to germ-infested blankets.
C Because of you a turtle hatchling has been cloned.
C- Conjoined no more, two infants have your kidneys.
D+ Your stem cells sealed a slit in someone’s spine.
D Because of you the children ate their grub worms.
D- You were among us for a time, but then
F you died.


—Kathleen Balma