Vater was the son so great
In the tenth generation's fate
Of Pteraspis, and he'd be
Ancestor of humanity
And myriad species more
From mountain peak to shore.
His innovation would
Change all for the good.
Vater built a channel
Grand beyond all span-el
Uniting liver bright
And pancreas in sight
Into his belly's space.
To this day we trace
This channel's honored name:
"Ampulla of Vater's" fame.
Such an exalted father,
Father of more than other
Men could ever dream,
The Elohim's esteem
Called him Abraham
According to their plan
For one whose progeny
Would fill eternity.
Vater bore two sons:
Arandus when begun
The day, and Hestracon
Whose work would carry on
The family's great name
Through evolutionary flame
That burns in every heart
That plays innovation's part.
Hestracon found his belly
Inadequate, not ready
For the work he knew
That he would have to do.
From mouth to anus all
The same, and he'd call
This simple with disdain—
Only his father's main
Ampulla in the middle
To solve digestion's riddle.
But this was not enough
For one so strong and tough
As Hestracon, who'd see
What greater good could be
If he would dare to build
What none before had willed.
Hestracon built with care
A chamber prepared
Before his father's gift
To give digestion lift.
He called it his stomach,
And this would come to stick
As the great divider
Between the provider
Of food from mouth above
And what intestines' love
Would process down below
To make the body grow.
Before the stomach laid
The esophagus, well-made
To carry food along
Its pathway, swift and strong.
After the stomach laid
The intestine, well-played
In its appointed role
To nourish the whole.
Hestracon begat two:
Astrops, tried and true,
And Eteros the strong
Who lived his whole life long.
Eteros begat then
Two sons beyond all ken:
Cyatha, cup-shield bright,
And Tsubasa's sight
Wing-shielded, prepared
For all that he had dared
To face in his lifetime
Through reason and through rhyme.
Tsubasa begat two:
Thelos, tried and true,
And Cephalus the wise
With penetrating eyes.
Thelos broke his armor
Into scales—no former
Rigidity would bind
His innovative mind.
Into innumerable scales
His armor never fails
To give him flexibility
And great ability
To live within the reefs
Where none could find reliefs
From rigid armor's weight
That sealed their swimming fate.
Where none others could bend
Well enough to transcend
The coral's tight embrace,
Thelos found his place.
Neither sons of Arthropus
Nor sons of Molluscus,
Nor sons of Chordatus
Could match his status
In the reef's tight spaces
Where his grace replaces
Rigidity with flow
That helps him grow
Into every niche
Where others couldn't reach
The food that he could take
For his own sake.
Cephalus bore wings bright
On each side in sight
Of his helmet's form,
Through calm and raging storm.
His head flew as he swam
According to his plan
For stability and grace
In every watery place.
His lateral line would keep
Him ahead, and never sleep
In vigilance for all
That might befall
His swimming through the sea.
Aware of all that he
Could sense around his form,
He weathered every storm.
Cephalus begat two:
Galeas, tried and true,
And Osteos, who'd see
What innovation's key
Could open in the world
Where possibilities unfurled
For those who dared to think
Beyond tradition's link.
Osteos was in plight—
His bones weren't right
For efficiency, he knew.
He had to make them new.
His bones were expensive,
Comprehensively
Wasting countless moles
Of calcium that rolls
Through phosphorus and more
Elements by the score
That could be better used
If they were not abused
In static, lifeless bone
That stood there all alone
Without a greater plan
For helping mortal man.
So he decided he
Would build more cleverly
His skeleton anew
With wisdom tried and true.
Osteos built with care
Blood channels everywhere
Inside his bones, making
Living, breathing, taking
Stores of minerals
That worked like generals
In abundance building up
From nature's flowing cup,
And in scarcity
He'd borrow, you see,
From what he'd stored before
Like treasure in his store.
And so he grew more strong
And prosperous life long
Than all his relatives
Who took what nature gives
But never learned to save
For what the future gave
Of challenges and need
When they would have to feed
From stores they'd built in plenty
When resources weren't scanty
But flowed like rivers wide
With bounty as their guide.
Osteos bore two sons:
Pituri when begun
The day, and Ostracos
Whose children, glorious,
Would multiply and spread
Until the world was fed
With countless forms of life
Through harmony, not strife.
Ostracos bore a host
Of sons from coast to coast:
A million who would spread
Wherever they were led
By life's eternal call
To multiply for all
Who'd come in times ahead
When they would have to fed
The world with their own forms
Through calm and raging storms
Of evolution's way
From night into the day.
Pituri grew a snout
Long beyond all doubt
The longest ever seen
In evolution's scene.
Pituri begat then
Beakon beyond all ken
In wisdom and in might
To see with clearer sight.
Pituri's mouth was made
Of lips, but never strayed
Into the realm of jaws—
He followed simpler laws.
Could only close the space
But never could erase
His prey with biting might—
No jaw was in his sight.
But Beakon saw potential
In what was essential
About his father's snout
And figured it out.
And so Beakon moved
His gill arches and proved
That innovation's art
Could play a vital part.
Into his mouth he brought
The arches, and he fought
For food in a new way
That worked both night and day.
Beakon's son named Gnathus
Saw potential, glorious,
And he with wife Pelaca
Hunted like none other.
They hunted trilobites
And brought them to their lights
Of innovation's flame
That burned in their name.
They didn't just catch prey
In the ancient way
But crushed them with their might
And brought them to the sight
Of their armored jaws
That followed nature's laws
But used them in new ways
Throughout their living days.
They sliced through every meal
With jaws of steel-hard feel
That brought life-giving food
In their hunting mood.
And so Jaws were born
On that fateful morn
When Gnathus and Pelaca
Showed what none could match-a:
The power to break through
What none before could do—
To crush and to consume
What others could assume
Was safe in armor's shell
From those who'd never tell
The secret of the jaw
That follows newer law.
The world would never be
The same for you and me
From that day forth when jaws
Became the newer laws
Of predatory might
That brought to sight
A revolution new
In what life could do.
From Vater's ampulla
To Gnathus' formula
For crushing with his jaws
According to new laws,
The vertebrates show how
Innovation's vow
To never be content
With what is merely sent
By fate, but always strive
To be more alive
And capable and strong
Throughout their whole life long
Journey through the sea
Of possibility
Where those who dare to grow
Will always come to know
New heights of what can be
For all eternity
When innovation's fire
Burns with true desire
To make the world more bright
With new forms that take flight
Beyond what was before
To open up the door
Of possibility
For all humanity
And every living thing
That answers life's ring.
From Hestracon's stomach
To Osteos' pragmatic
Bones with channels through,
From scales that Thelos knew
Would give him flexibility
To Cephalus' ability
To fly through water's space
With stabilizing grace,
The vertebrates remind
Us that the searching mind
That breaks from what is known
Can reap what it has sown
In innovations new
That see old dreams through
To heights beyond all thought
That wisdom ever brought.
From simple mouth that closed
To jaw that none opposed
In crushing power's might,
The story shows the sight
Of how small changes grow
Into the flow
Of evolution's stream
Where nothing's what they seem
But everything can change
Beyond familiar range
If we but have the will
To climb each higher hill
Of possibility
Through all eternity
Where dreams can all come true
For me and you today.
The jaws that Gnathus made
Will never ever fade
From vertebrate design—
Protection so fine
Against the world's hard ways
Throughout our living days
When we must fight to eat
And make our lives complete.
From Vater's family tree
To jaws that set us free
From limitations old
Of stories yet untold,
The vertebrates have shown
How far we've grown
From simple, humble start
To mastery of art
That lets us rule the sea
And land and be
The masters of our fate
Through innovations great
That never cease to grow
In all we'll ever know
Of what can be achieved
When dreams are believed
And turned to reality
Through wise ability
To see what others miss
And find in this
The power to transcend
All limits and extend
The boundaries of life
Through harmony, not strife.
The world that Gnathus bit
With jaws of steel and grit
Lives on in every tooth
That tells the truth
Of how innovation's way
Can change both night and day
Into something new
For me and you
Who dare to break the mold
Of stories never told
And write upon the page
Of evolution's age
New chapters yet unread
Where we are led
By wisdom's guiding light
To make the future bright
With possibilities
That nobody sees
But those who dare to dream
Of more than what they seem
And turn those dreams to life
Through joy and through strife
That marks the growing soul
Who plays the vital role
In evolution's plan
For every woman, man,
And every living thing
That answers hope's ring.
From Vater's great design
To Gnathus' jaw so fine,
The story's clear to see:
Innovation sets us free.