An Ode To A Trilobite Poem by Royston Nella

Swimming in profusion in the Cambrian sea
this lovely creature is so appealing to me.
It's a fossil of variety and surprise
with its simple three lobed shape and its compound eyes.

On its primordial feet it scurried around
the ocean floor hunting for food to be found.
Whenever threatened, it would curl into a ball
like a modern cheese hog* to escape from it all.

This pioneer from the dawn of Earth's history
found its niche in the waters of the early sea.
In the primeval ooze through the years of time,
adapting slowly to each changing clime.

Could the modern King Crab a distant relative be
of this lovely Trilobite from the Cambrian Sea?
It had passed on its genes o'er the aeons long
transforming and evolving as it went along.

• Local name for a wood louse