Among the sons of Cambrius
Two faced issues serious:
Chordatus, son of Dutrus true,
And Annelidus, strong through and through.
Each one supported by
Hydrostatic pressure high.
With water pressure in their frame
They bore their body's name.
Together they perceived the flaw:
When movement broke the law
Of circulation through their form,
Their blood could not stay warm.
To nourish organs through their length
They needed greater strength.
So hearts they built with arteries
And veins like flowing seas.
Together each one made with care
Closed systems everywhere.
The blood would flow in circuits true
And nourish organs through.
Our great bloodlines were born that day
When hearts showed them the way.
From hydrostatic to circulatory,
Evolution's greatest story.
From Annelon came two sons:
Segmentus when day begun
And Ribbon, hunter of the deep
Whose prey would never sleep.
Ribbon built a proboscis long
And venomous and strong.
From this weapon he would hunt
His prey with skillful stunt.
His sons are known today
As Ribbon Worms who slay
Their victims with their poison dart
Shot straight into the heart.
Segmentus built his body wise
With segments that would rise
In number past all count—
Each segment paramount.
He built resilience strong
Throughout his body long.
With countless legs and bristles too
His segments carried through
Their industries with care
And spread them everywhere.
Each segment bore its pair
Of legs beyond compare.
Segmentus bore two sons:
Pleistos when day begun
And Amphon of the sea
Who lived quite happily.
Amphon bore a son and daughter:
Amphinos of the water
And Sipuncula the great
Who chose a different fate.
Amphinos became the sire
Of worms that burn like fire.
Fierce beasts with spikes of poison bright
In colors burning bright.
We never tread upon their ground
Where they can be found.
Their beauty hides their deadly art—
They'll pierce the beating heart.
Modern flags today still show
The colors that bestow
Great honor to Amphinos' line
With patterns so divine.
Sipuncula chose to be
So different and free
That her own phylum she became—
The peanut worms of fame.
Pleistos bore two sons:
Vermo when day begun
And Errantius who roamed
Far from his ancient home.
Errantius bore two more:
Myzo the parasite, and for
Balance, Greatswimmer true
Who swam the ocean blue.
Greatswimmer bore a son and daughter:
Phyllos swift of water
And Eunice, jealous, wild,
Never meek or mild.
Eunice the vicious was
Jealous without cause.
She stole her husband's manhood true
And made herself anew.
Without him she conceived
And daughters she received.
These daughters fierce and bold
Are Bobbit Worms of old.
Phyllos bore sons many
More diverse than any:
Swimmers of artistry
Across the boundless sea.
Syllides the lazy one
Never courted, never won
A mate through his own art—
He'd bud off body part
Each month to chase the maids
While he in comfort stayed.
His lazy ways persist
In every tryst.
Tomopteris breaks his fins
As chaff when race begins.
He swims and never lands
On ocean's shifting sands.
Alciops the hawkeyed hunter
Whose sight is like no other.
His eyes surpass them all
Who hear the ocean's call.
And fair Aphrodite
Ancestress of the sea mice free.
Her daughters beautiful
Make the ocean wonderful.
Vermo bore four daughters fair:
Eartha who walked everywhere,
Sapion wise and true,
Hestia of the deep blue,
And Orbinida of fame
Who earned eternal name.
Eartha walked great distances wide
Across the earth with pride.
Her journeys never ceased
From west unto the east.
Sapion bore two daughters more:
Sabella, who would soar
With feathers bright and fair,
And Spiona everywhere
With tentacles that sway
Throughout the night and day.
Sabella's daughters live
As fishermen who give
Us beauty in the temple halls—
The feather dusters' calls
Remind us worms can be
Both beautiful and free.
In every sacred place
They show us nature's grace.
Hestia swam down deep
To Gaia's womb to keep
Her vigil in the dark
Like ancient patriarch.
She closed her gut with care
And bacteria everywhere
Would help her live below
Where others could not go.
Her daughters farm the depths
Where Gaia's treasure kept:
Riftia in volcanic vents
Where fiery mountain scents
Fill the water hot,
And Lamella's got
Her home in cold seeps where
Oil riches fill the lair.
Eartha bore a son and daughter:
Terraclithia of the water
And Echiuron so great
With creativity innate.
Like Sipuncula before,
Echiuron's art and lore
Was so unique and fine
We thought her line divine
Enough to be its own
Phylum, standing alone.
Her creativity
Gave her divinity.
Terraclithia bore two more:
Terebella to explore
And Clitella, wise and small
But mother of them all.
Terebella bore three sons:
Spaghettes when day begun,
Pompeii of the fire,
And Acros to aspire.
Spaghettes used tentacles long
Like ropes both thick and strong
To snare his prey from far—
Miles distant like a star.
Pompeii chose to dwell
In volcanic hell.
Among the fires hot
He made his living spot.
Acros became the sire
Of forms that never tire:
Squidworm and Swima too
Swam the ocean blue.
Clitella was small of head
But wisdom in her spread
Through other organs wise—
Her offspring multiplied
Beyond all counting true.
What bristles never knew
She made up with her spawn:
Children from dusk to dawn.
Her children took to rivers
Where water always quivers.
Today we know them well:
Earthworms who till and tell
The soil of its needs,
And Leeches who feed
On blood from those they meet—
Both bitter and sweet.
From hydrostatic pressure
To circulatory measure,
The worms found their way
To rule both night and day.
In every garden bed
Where earthworms make their tread,
Remember Annelon's line
That made the system fine.
In every ribbon worm
That makes its victims squirm,
In every feather duster's grace
That beautifies the place,
In every fire worm bright
With colors burning light,
In every deep-sea farmer
Working like a charmer,
The legacy lives on
From dusk until dawn
Of hearts and circulation
That saved each population.
The sons of Cambrius learned
That when their bodies turned
And moved through space and time,
Their blood must flow in rhyme
With needs of every part
From tail unto the heart.
The closed system they made
Will never ever fade.
In every beating heart
That plays its vital part,
Remember those who built
The system without guilt
That pumps our blood each day
In its circulatory way.
From Chordatus and Annelidus true
Came the gift to me and you.