Life Is… #surprisingthing in #science #poetry

Newcomers hog the spotlight

Age of Fishes, Paleozoic,

Age of Reptiles, Mesozoic,

Age of Mammals, Cenozoic,

Age of Man, Anthropocene,

These all miss the major theme.

Outstanding feature of life’s scene

Is a constant domination,

Now, as ever since creation,

Reigning through life’s whole duration.

Count by biomass or cells,

Eon, epoch, era tells

In what period life dwells.

It’s the Age of Microbes!

It’s been the Age of Microbes.

Will always be,

On land and sea,

Earth in the Age of Microbes.

Poem by Kate Rauner

We humans are impressed by big, fierce creatures – but nature is not. “What you see is that the most outstanding feature of life’s history is a constant domination by bacteria.” Stephen Jay Gould

Filed under: Poetry Tagged: Anthropocene, bacteria, biology, Cenozoic, evolution, Mesozoic, Microbe, Paleozoic, poem, poetry, science, stephen jay gould