Anton’s Microscopes
Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723)
A Dutchman named Anton
was someone you’d count on
to tell you precisely
the things he could see.
A microscope maker
and shopkeeping draper
discovering life that’s
as small as can be.
He magnified beasts that
he scraped from his teeth
and watched as they swam
like some creatures in seas.
Learning there’s animals
formed from just single-cells.
Seeing that even a
flea can have fleas!
Finding bacteria
in our interior.
Sending this news
across the sea.
Anton astounded us.
What he had found in us
started the science
mi-cros-co-py.
Australian Children’s Poetry 