If the Nobel Prize Winners of Medicine and Peace Had a Conversation
Even healers use the word elimination,
marshaling strategic plans to attack
a roundworm that has disrupted
the homeostasis of the body, a parasite
that represents a threat to be vigilant against.
Elsewhere, curious eyes observe
a one-millimeter roundworm with elegans
in its scientific name and discover
an almost invisible courier of information
that influences the difference between
a cell’s optimal function and malfunction.
On this rain-drenched day that washes
earthworms on my driveway, I research
the relationship between earthworms
and roundworms and discover they have
less in common than I thought, falling
under the immense category of invertebrates.
Still, I gently pick up the earthworms
And move them to my lawn, creating pockets
Of air, giving the roots room to spread.
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Joseph Geskey lives outside Columbus, Ohio. His first book of poetry, Alms for the Ravens, was published in 2024 by Main Street Rag Publishing Company. Individual poems have appeared in Tar River Poetry, JAMA, Poetry East, Roanoke Review, and many other journals. Please visit josephgeskey.com for further information.
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Stone Poetry Quarterly 