Obi-Wan is quiet and measured.

He fights with considerable skill.

Once Anakin’s friend and later his foe,

He shows a true Jedi’s will.

 

Jabba the Hut is a toady slug

Who rules with a slimy fist.

But Princess Leia brings him down

With a flick of her powerful wrist.

 

Yoda very powerful is,

and small and wise and green.

Though old, he is fast and agile

When battling Palpatine.

 

Darth Maul’s head is patterned and horned.

His double lightsaber burns red.

He is a great Sith warrior

who survives when he should be dead.

 

C-3PO always steals the show

With his fluster and comical yelp.

He’s useful and loyal, though not very brave,

He’s a droid who is programmed to help.

 

Jango Fett is a bounty hunter

Who battled with Obi-Wan.

An army was formed of his clones,

One of which he kept as a son.

 

Chewbacca is hairy and vocal,

A wookie, a pilot, a friend.

Saved from a muddy dungeon,

He’ll follow Han Solo to the end.

 

Darth Vader, a black-clad villain,

who went by another name,

Uses the force for evil

And wants Luke to do the same.

 

Rey is a Jakku scavenger

who finds she is something more.

Her courage and skill in fighting

take her far in the galactic war.

 

There is something we should treasure,

Worth much more than we can measure.

We can’t earn it, still less steal it.

It’s a gift and we will feel it.

Even when we’re far away

It stays with us every day.

Gift so unlike any other:

Yes, the love of our own mother!

I knew I shouldn’t

But resist I couldn’t

And now with the bloat

It’s my lot to float.

So let this be a lesson to you –

One fly for dessert, never two!

Most animal legs
will have some knees.

Including birds,
including bees,

including dogs
like Pekinese,

including cats
like Siamese.

There’s also apes
like chimpanzees

and watery-mammal
manatees.

And most of them all
have kneecaps, two.

including us,
the gnu, the shrew,

and even frogs
have kneecaps too.

But NONE are found
on a kangaroo.

Pondering These Knees by Celia Berrell

https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2019/04/02/four_fascinating_facts_about_kneecaps.html

http://kneesafe.com/fun-facts-animal-knees/

 

Each drop of water

from sea, soil or stream

is teeming with life.

A mi-CROS-copist’s dream!

 

Diatoms shimmer

in rainbows of light.

Their intricate coats

a magnificent sight.

 

These algae have skeletons:

glassy-grown cases

with species-specific

designs on all faces.

 

Placed on a slide

only microns apart,

kaleidoscope patterns

delight us as art.

 

First published in Double Helix (April 2018)

Reproduced with permission of CSIRO http://www.doublehelix.csiro.au

inspired by:

Klaus Kemp – The Diatomist – & Algae Kaleidoscopes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxkbSk–EUY

Published on Feb 9, 2017

Struck by the beauty and symmetry of diatoms, modern-day microscopist Klaus Kemp recently revived the Victorian art of diatom arrangement. In this short film by Matthew Killip, peer into the peculiar art form and witness a modern-day diatom master at work.