Sunday, June 29, 2014

The Conjugation of the Paramecium by Muriel Rukeyser


The Conjugation of the Paramecium

This has nothing
 to do with
propagating 

The species
is continued
as so many are
(among the smaller creatures)
by fission 

(and this species
is very small
next in order to
the amoeba, the beginning one) 

The paramecium
achieves, then,
immortality
by dividing 

But when
the paramecium
desires renewal
strength another joy
this is what 
the paramecium does: 

The paramecium
lies down beside
another paramecium 

Slowly inexplicably
the exchange
takes place
in which
some bits
of the nucleus of each
are exchanged 

for some bits 
of the nucleus
of the other 

This is called
the conjugation of the paramecium.




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