C. Elegans Poem by Sidi Mahtrow

The elegance
Of Caenorhabditis elegans
Can not be hidden
Or disguised.

This tiny nematode (worm)
Can be seen to squirm
Under the microscope
Of those who wish to poke
Into the life and love
Of this bit of biologie
That resembles man
(Yes it can.)

In many ways
It spends its days
Just as we all do
Feeding and excreting, to name a few.

While most elegans are true hermaphrodites
Some few are disposed to have a single y chromosome
Which permits evolutionary courses
To play the game of selection
So that the species while remaining
Much as before,
Can still juggle the genes
To test what maybe in store.

In the short time after mating
And gamete selecting
It goes from a single cell
To the complex organism we know so well.

Then as in all animal species,
It dies as it completes God's mission,
Which is to ensure that evolution
Is something not to be left undone.

[If you follow the thread on the web, you'll discover that this simple nematode responds to chemicals much like man. Nicotine affects the nematode, although not suppressing or enhancing desires of which it has none (that we are aware of,) as it serves as a stimulant. And there's more, the effect of tobacco on man is there for all to read and understand in Wiki.]