Poems of the Week

“A Pet Crayfish Can Clone Itself, and It’s Spreading Around the World”—The Atlantic

by David Hedges

The female crayfish that gives birth
Without a mate, for what it’s worth,
Will one day dominate the Earth

By squeezing out the ones that play
By Nature’s rules. With sex passé,
This crayfish knows when Mother’s Day

Is nigh because she has a choice —
A strong, no longer passive, voice —
In when to lay her eggs. Rejoice,

Ye lovers of the human race!
Someday it may be commonplace
To breed without a fond embrace.

The quicker women learn they can
Conceive without a middleman
(A fact of life since time began)

The sooner men will say, “No more
Do we feel free to march to war.”
The Women’s Diplomatic Corps

Will make a veiled appeal for peace,
And armed hostilities will cease.
Communities will charge police

With keeping people safe and sound.
The implications are profound!
(Don’t worry, we’ll still fool around.)