Relating to the Leaf

Alan Wagstaff 

Leaves aren’t branches; leaves aren’t roots;
leaves aren’t peas, or passion fruits.

Leaves aren’t rushes, reeds, or roses;
leaves aren’t knuckles, knees, or noses.

Leaves aren’t pigs or platypuses.
Leaves are not rhinoceroses.

Almost everyone believes
leaves aren’t anything but leaves!

But
mutants lurk in every leaf!
They tweak the archetype motif.
Mutants lurked when life was one.
Two thousand, million years rolled on.

So -
leaves are branches; leaves are roots;
leaves are peas and passion fruits;
leaves are rushes, reeds and roses;
leaves are knuckles, knees and noses;
leaves are pigs and platypuses;
leaves are part-rhinoceroses.

Strike a light! My God! Good grief!
I am related to the leaf!

The Science

This poem is a playful, rhythmic treatment of evolutionary ‘inter-relatedness’. Although it was prompted by a scientific article about how mutations occur, it doesn’t strive for scientific accuracy. Rather, it plays, child-like, with the notion that, at the level of DNA, all living things are related. It was, in fact, written for children, in hopes of captivating their further involvement with evolutionary science. Perhaps it can also appeal to the inner child in all of us.

The Poet

Alan is a life-long educator who works internationally to bring creativity and kindness into the schooling enterprise. He enjoys using music and poetry to enliven learning, especially in fields like mathematics and science where their use is less expected.

Next poem: Rusted Roots and Spurned Sprout by Elliott White Jr.