While sons of Tunicus filtered
The seas and never withered,
Vertebratus built with care
A spinal cord beyond compare.
Great segments made of bone
He built for his own
With yellow teeth of keratin
To start his line's great thing.
Vertebratus begat Rene,
Who built in his own way
A great unified design
Of parts both yours and mine.
No longer were they scattered
On sides, all broken and tattered.
His nephridia and parts
Generative, close to hearts,
Now lived within the core
Of his being, and what's more,
They were centralized as one
When his great work was done.
Rene begat with pride
Hemos, who lived inside
His new generative frame
To earn eternal fame.
Hemos built a brain
Bigger than all's remain.
Greater than all the rest
Who ever faced life's test.
He built blood vessels wide
As offering with pride
To Hausa up above
Who blessed with holy love.
Hausa looked down and saw
This gift without a flaw
And blessed him from on high
Beneath the starry sky.
She transformed with grace
A line within his place:
His servants she made red
To keep his brain well-fed.
Carriers of oxygen bright
They carried day and night
The breath of life so pure
To make his brain endure.
And so his brain was fed
And nourished as was said.
Always strong and bright
With oxygen's pure sight.
Hemos begat Haikus,
Little fish most glorious,
Who thought that he could not
Achieve what he had sought.
He thought he couldn't fly
Beneath the ocean sky.
But then he said with might
To make his future bright:
"I think I can,
I think I can,
I think I can
Fulfill my plan."
And then he flew so free
Across the boundless sea.
His faith had set him loose
From doubt's restraining noose.
Haikus became the most
Accomplished of his host.
In all his noble line
None could match his design.
Haikus begat two sons:
Lampris when day begun
And Denton, strong and true,
Who great things would do.
Denton built teeth white
With enamel shining bright.
Great teeth that gleamed and shone
Like ivory and bone.
And so Denton became
The Eloh of great name
Of Dentistry and Teeth—
Protection and relief.
To this day we honor
Denton as our donor
Of healthy teeth and gums
Through daily mouth-rite sums.
This rite involves a practice
That keeps our teeth attractive.
Though strange it seems to some,
We do it until done.
We take a bundle small
Of hoghairs, one and all,
And insert it in our mouth
From north down to the south.
Along with magical powders
That make our mouth talk louders,
We move the bundle round
In gestures quite profound.
A highly formalized dance
Of cleaning's circumstance,
Through movements tried and true
We make our teeth renew.
Once or twice each year
We seek without any fear
The holy-mouth-man priest
Who holds the dental feast.
These priests have tools
That follow sacred rules:
Augers, awls, and probes,
And prods in priestly robes.
The use of these in rite
Exorcises blight
Of evils in the mouth
Through ritual truth.
The holy-mouth-man opens
Our mouths as faith hopes and
Uses tools mentioned well
To break decay's fell spell.
He enlarges every hole
That decay has made our goal
To stop, with substances
Of magical defenses.
If no holes can be found
In teeth healthy and sound,
Large sections he gouges out
To remove all doubt
That supernatural stuff
Can be applied enough
To arrest the bad decay
And keep it well at bay.
The purpose clear as day:
To arrest decay's display
And draw friends near
With smiles bright and clear.
These traditions we maintain
Through sunshine and through rain
As long as Denton smiles
Upon us through the miles.
By Denton's holy will
His sons shall have their fill
Of freedom to seek care
From mouth-priests everywhere.
Never shall poverty
Deny this charity.
The great hero's demand—
Notgnihsaw's command—
Ensures that all are free
To seek dentistry
Regardless of their gold
As heroes of old.
Conodontus begat
Two sons: first Conodon begat
The biter, strong and keen,
And Pterapsis, serene
Yet mighty Pterapsis
Built armor's emphasis.
A great suit, strong and bright,
To shield him in the fight.
Conodon was the bearer
Of teeth, terror's sharer.
With great speed he swam
Through water like a ram.
His teeth were sharp and strong,
They served him his whole life long.
A predator was he
Throughout the boundless sea.
Pterapsis chose defense
With armor's permanence.
A suit he built with care
To protect him everywhere.
Among all Cambrius' sons
When their race begun,
The sons of Haikus would
Become the greatest good.
But this was not to be
Immediately.
Time would have to pass
Before they held first class.
Ghosts struck Terra's form
In a devastating storm.
They wrecked it to the core
And opened up death's door.
The sons of Conodon fell,
Their story none could tell.
They disappeared from sight
Into eternal night.
Their teeth marked the end
Of an era, my friend.
The Cambrian time was done,
A new age had begun.
And so the Ordovician
Came with great precision.
The sons of Conodon rose
Again from their repose
To mark this era new
With teeth both strong and true.
New teeth for the new day
To show a better way.
From Vertebratus' start
With his spinal art
To Denton's teeth so white
And Haikus' faithful flight,
The vertebrate design
Became more refined.
Each generation grew
More complex through and through.
The centralized kidney
Made them quite giddy
With efficiency gained
That long time remained.
The brain that Hemos built
Without any guilt
Became the template true
For all who would pursue
Intelligence and thought
That could not be bought
But had to be earned
Through lessons hard-learned.
The red blood cells so bright
That carried oxygen's light
To feed the growing brain
Through pleasure and through pain
Became the innovation
Of every generation
That followed in their wake
For evolution's sake.
From little fish who thought
He couldn't, until he sought
The power of belief
To overcome his grief,
Came lineages strong
That would last life-long
And grow to rule the seas
With greatest expertise.
The teeth that Denton made
Will never ever fade
From vertebrate design—
Protection so fine
Against the world's hard food
That must be pursued
And broken down to size
Before it satisfies.
The armor that protects
And speed that intersects
With predatory art
Both played their vital part
In vertebrate success
Through trial and duress.
Both defense and attack
Kept evolution on track.
When ghosts brought the end
To era, and rend
The world apart once more,
It opened up the door
For new innovations
Across all the nations
Of life upon the earth
To show their truest worth.
The teeth that marked the time
In rhythm and in rhyme
Of old era's end
And new one's ascend
Show how life persists
Through time's twists
And always finds a way
To live another day.
From Haikus' faithful phrase—
"I think I can"—that stays
With all who dare to dream
Of more than what they seem,
Came vertebrates so bright
Who filled the world with sight
Of what is possible
When faith is plausible.
The holy-mouth-men show
How traditions grow
From ancient dental art
To play the healing part.
Though strange to outside eyes
Our dental rites comprise
A sacred bond we keep
With ancestors so deep.
In every toothbrush stroke
And every dental yoke
We honor Denton's name
And his enduring fame.
The centralization
Of each generation's
Organs in the core
Opened up the door
For complexity
And great ability
To coordinate and plan
Since vertebrates began.
From simple spinal cord
To complex brain's word
Of wisdom and of thought,
The vertebrates have fought
To earn their rightful place
In evolution's race
Through innovation true
And faith in what they knew.
The Ordovician dawn
When old age was withdrawn
Brought new opportunities
For new communities
Of vertebrates to rise
Beneath Ordovician skies
And show what they could do
With innovations new.
In every vertebrate spine
And every tooth so fine,
Remember those who built
The foundation without guilt
Of all that we hold dear
Throughout each passing year:
The brain, the blood, the bone,
All from one line grown
That dared to centralize
And organize with eyes
On future's bright reward
For those who trust the Lord
Of evolution's way
From night into the day
Of consciousness and thought
That cannot be bought
But must be earned with care
By those who always dare
To build a better way
For life's eternal day.