science | Poem A Day

Posts Tagged ‘science’

Consider the Leech

Consider the leech, either with a jaw,

or not. It’s just like an earthworm, except

the leech feeds on blood. No big deal. I saw

my friend peel one from her skin as she wept.

After that, I wouldn’t swim in the lake. She

didn’t seem to mind, her skin weeping blood,

our ideas shifted a few degrees

to the East. I thought of the flood.

Why did Noah bring the leeches? Did he

believe the world needed parasites?

We don’t, though even doctors once believed

in their healing properties. We must fight

the belief that giving too much is good.

The urge to take and take is in our blood.

I don’t know the distance to the Moon or the circumference

of the Earth. I don’t know the infinite digits of Pi or how

to surf or what day I will die. I haven’t memorized the

works of William Shakespeare or tried to understand

Derrida, nor have I read that poem to which you

are always referring. I don’t know why I sometimes

scream and other times I cry. I don’t know

anything about how Minneapolis was founded nor

do I know where the closest lake is, though I trust

it is there. I don’t know when the next train

to Chicago leaves or if I will ever again write

a single compelling word. In fact, I don’t know

anything. I trust the rain will fall down, tomorrow,

but I hope it won’t. I believe in the righteous

goodness of coffee, and the simple fact

of the sun, I believe in the distance between

celestial bodies, though I don’t know

what it is.