Characteristics of Life

Dear Grandchildren

You ask…if snakes are mean,
..If turkeys hate Thanksgiving,
When “you know what happens”
..Does grandpa fear not living?

I’ll answer with rhyme of science,
..And leave feelings out for now.
It’s called biology
..The study of life it’s WOW!

You find in biology,
..an infinity of form.
Of function too, some funky ooh,
..Play with me, surprises are the norm

While some births are vomited
..Others violent.
Sometimes they’re born in trillions,
..Some are brief like rent.

Mating can occur
..Between an orchid and a bee.
Octopus solve problems
..With a brain that’s like a pea.

Life begins non-living
..With stuff it forms a cell
Some cells live independent
..A single life lived well.

Others clump together,
..We can’t tell who’s the wife.
Co-habitation suits them,
..Or not, but they serve life.

When many cells are similar,
..A tissue do they form.
Then tissues make up organs,
..Together they perform.

All these organs make an -ism,
..An organism birthed.
You may not think too much of some,
..Mother Nature knows their worth.

When organisms look alike,
..And really get along…
They tend to group together,
..To a population they belong.

Out back in the forest,
..Are animals and plants.
They form community,
..Picnicking with the ants.

In all they love the world outdoors,
..Weather, wind and rain.
A sphere within Earth’s sphere,
..Biosphere’s the name.

Life starts out really simple,
..Well, it’s not really life at all.
But then emerges complex mighty,
..Organizing the collected raw.

It’s just those raw materials,
..That manufacture life.
And they also must maintain it,
..To get life through life’s strife.

Nutrients, we call it food,
..Are organism’s friend.
They eat so they have energy,
..And thus their life extends.

The shining source of energy,
..Comes to plants from the sun.
Green ones magically change it,
..Then share with everyone.

Sun combines with soil,
..Producing food for us organics.
Food eats then we eat,
..A food chain’s base mechanics.

Plants turn in-organic,
..Into organic matter.
The cycle runs until it stops,
..Putting meat upon the platter.

Rain and sun determine much,
..From desert to coral reef.
Where they are abundant,
..Populations squeal and squeak.

While dry and dark communities,
..Exist in stark relief.
They seem to lack life on the surface,
..But team with it beneath.

Life requires balance,
..With tolerance the key.
Like temperature and moisture,
..Don’t forget acidity.

It’s those tissues mentioned earlier,
..And their organ system nerves.
That keep us all from crashing,
..Cashing food out of reserve.

Living things respond to things,
..that live and that live not.
Like environmental changes,
..And distant things that rot.

Some respond with movement,
..Ensuring they survive.
Behavior begets balance,
..Gets honey for the hive.

Life must bring more life,
..Reproduction it is called.
You might say mold develops,
..Offspring in it’s mold.

Single cells don’t marry,
..But they always have to split.
Multi-cell organics pair,
..Egg to sperm permit.

The reproduced new package,
..Instructions tucked inside.
Through genes offspring are similar,
..But different by design.

DNA is like a map,
..Within the gene’s deep pocket.
It turns genes on and off,
..Like many lights and sockets.

The difference you seem to see,
..Mutations they are called.
Inheritable changes,
..Variations sometimes bold.

Staggering diversity,
..Among identicals.
Allow inheritance,
..and better life all toll.

When mutation meets environment,
..Adaptation is its name.
Some feathers fly and others blubber.
..Survival is the game.

Environs change and so do we,
..If we’re improved then we’re evolved.
If we stay the same we lose,
..extincted by the stall.

Pinch a seed or hold an egg,
..Then pick up any stone.
One hand holds life’s potential,
..The other can’t be cloned.

Birth she is uncertain,
..But her conditions are finite.
And death is always certain,
..We live between these plights.

Love

 

Your Yopa

 

One thought on “Characteristics of Life”

  1. I can hear you reading the whole thing. I love it. It begin and ends with my greatest fear.

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