From Euka's line arose kingdoms three,
The greatest realms beneath the sea.
Each house would claim its sovereignty,
And rule with power, wild and free.
The Kingdom of proud Plantus rose,
Where photosynthetic glory grows.
The realm of Mygus, where fungus flows,
And Metazo's beasts in ordered rows.
Beside them stood the lesser lights:
Mygaster's realm, Kelpus' heights,
Rhizar's spears, Cilliofer's sights,
And Oomy's spines in endless fights.
The sons of Myzo swam in blood,
While Myxo's daughters sought their food.
Each scions built where they once stood
Their cities in the neighborhood.
From Metazo and fair Anima
Came creatures of the wild drama.
From Mygus and sweet Funga
Rose fungi's mystic saga.
While Plantus and Virita bright
Begat the plants that seek the light.
Each kingdom claimed its ancient right
To rule with majesty and might.
Upon a rock both firm and true,
Great Metazo and Anima
Built their city, small but new,
The Animal Kingdom's first hurrah.
Their citizens were three in kind:
The Choanocytes, fishermen,
The Archaeocytes, women refined,
And Pinacocytes again.
The endodermal men would feed
The city with their fishing skill.
The mesodermal women's deed
Was guarding with protective will.
The ectodermal folk between
Would anchor all with steadfast might.
Their city, though it was not seen
By many, shone with inner light.
From this great union came a son,
Bold Therion of noble birth.
When his childhood days were done,
He spread his lineage through the earth.
Great Therion bore three children true:
Brave Porifer, the sponge's king,
And Thallus with his geometric view,
And Cloudi, who would upward bring.
Now Thallus chose the structured way,
With holdfasts gripping to the stone.
His Choanoderms in bright array
Extended in directions known.
But Cloudi raised his ectoderm high,
Above the ground his city soared.
His children reached toward the sky,
Each generation climbing forward.
From Cloudi came two children bright:
Fair Cloudina, growing slow,
Who built her city with sediment's might,
And let the layers gently flow.
But brave Namacalathus rose
Above the ground to seek the air.
His city's secrets, no one knows,
His mysteries beyond compare.
The sons of this great architect
Built cities strange and wondrous fair.
Their forms we'll never quite detect,
Their wisdom lost beyond our care.
But Porifer chose a different path,
He was the first true sponge of old.
With ectoderm's protective wrath,
He kept his choanocytes bold.
In patches safe from wind and wave,
His fishermen could work in peace.
This innovation he gave
Would make his line never cease.
From Porifer came Wallas true,
Who lived just like his father dear.
But danger came into his view,
A storm approached with deadly fear.
"My people," Wallas cried aloud,
"We must prepare for what's ahead!
Pull tight your pseudopods, be proud,
Or we shall all be dead!"
The shieldmaidens heard his call,
They wrapped their arms around each pore.
Their muscles, first of all,
Would guard what came before.
These pores would grow in time to be
The mouths and other openings.
The muscles would set free
The power that contraction brings.
From Wallas came great Solenos,
Who saw a better way to build.
Through his city, waters' flows
Would bring the food to be filled.
He sent his channels through the stone,
And water rushed through every gate.
His city prospered, fully grown,
With fish caught early and late.
From Solenos came two sons:
Bold Leucon and fair Sponga bright.
When their childhood was done,
They filled the sea with their might.
Together they bore children two:
Great Vitrius of glass so clear,
And Spongius, wise and true,
Whose name we hold dear.
Now Leucon was a builder grand,
A Leuconoid of complex form.
He filled his city through the land
With labyrinths to weather storm.
His gates and fishermen galore
Made cities massive, wide, and tall.
The sons of Leucon built much more
Than any seen before them all.
But Vitrius, his eldest son,
Grew jealous of his father's fame.
He thought his time had come
To claim the royal name.
With stone in hand, he struck his sire,
And Leucon fell beneath the blow.
Young Vitrius' dark desire
Had brought his father low.
"I claim the throne!" he cried with pride,
"For I shall rule with justice true!"
A glass house he built, so wide,
With walls of crystal, clear as dew.
He forced the people to their knees,
Made them work until they died.
He merged their minds with no ease,
A hive-mind he created with pride.
When Spongius asked him why
He'd killed their father dear,
Vitrius' cold reply
Rang out for all to hear:
"Our father was a tyrant cruel,
He worked the people to their death!
I am justice's tool,
With God's own holy breath!"
He ran into his crystal home,
And shouted from behind the glass:
"I am invincible, and none shall roam
Against my rule! My power shall last!"
But Spongius took a stone,
And cast it with a steady aim.
The glass house, overthrown,
Shattered in a crystal rain.
As Vitrius lay dying there,
His brother spoke these words so wise:
"Let all who hubris bear
Remember where their folly lies.
People in glass houses built
Should never throw stones around.
For pride will make them wilt,
And bring them crashing down."
To this day we quote his name
When pride goes before a fall.
Spongius earned his fame
With wisdom shared by all.
The sons of Vitrius became
The glass sponges, strange and bright.
On fringes they would claim
Their territories, out of sight.
But Spongius ruled with gentle hand,
Both just and kind to every soul.
His wisdom spread throughout the land,
And made his people whole.
From him came two sons true:
Great Aristos, noble-born,
And Demos, through and through
A leader without scorn.
Now Demos ruled efficiently,
Yet kept the ancient ways.
He led conservatively,
Through all his ruling days.
Most sponges in the world today
Descend from Demos' line.
Their forms in grand array
Show heritage divine.
Among them were the green
Sons of Spongillus bright,
Who farm in lands serene
And give the waters light.
In Siberia's frozen lake,
Great Baikal, cold and deep,
Even there they make
Their vigil while we sleep.
Beneath Scorpio's sign,
When ice covers the mere,
The green sons still divine
Their food throughout the year.
Beside them hunt and roam
The sons of Chondrocles,
Who've made the deep their home
And hunt with greater ease.
These carnivorous sponges bold
Pursue their prey with might.
Their hunting stories told
Fill listeners with delight.
From Aristos came two more:
Great Anu, unique and strange,
And Calcidoros' lore
Would through the reefs arrange.
Bold Calcidoros built
With calcium's bright blessing.
His forms would never wilt
Beneath the sea's caressing.
With Calcifer's own power
Over silicon's domain,
He built each coral tower
In forms without refrain.
Simple, optimal, and true,
His structures graced the reefs.
In tropical waters blue,
His beauty brings reliefs.
But Anu was most unique,
With basement membranes rare.
Among all sponges, he'd speak
A language none could share.
His form was strange to see,
Unlike his spongy kin.
His singularity
Would make him stand within.
From these great founders came
The sponges of today.
Each bearing his name
In their own special way.
The Animal Kingdom grew
From that small rock-bound start.
Though simple, plain, and true,
It captured every heart.
For in these humble forms
Lay patterns yet to come:
Through all of life's great storms,
The plan for everyone.
The muscles that would move
Our bodies through the day,
The openings that prove
That life will find a way.
From Porifer's first design
To Spongius' wisdom deep,
The sponges intertwine
With promises they keep.
So honor every sponge
That filters waters clean.
Their ancient wisdom's lunge
Connects what's been and seen.
In every cell that beats,
In every breath we take,
Their legacy completes
The choices that we make.
The Animal Kingdom's start
Was humble, small, and true.
But in each beating heart,
Their courage echoes through.