by Alex Steelsmith

“A pair of critically endangered, nearly 100-year-old Galapagos tortoises
at the Philadelphia Zoo have become first-time parents… [T]he zoo said it is
‘overjoyed’ at the arrivals of the four hatchlings, a first in its more than 150-year history.”
—The Associated Press

Higgledy-goggledy,
jubilant zookeepers
gaze at the progeny,
deeply impressed;

ancient, precarious
testudinarious
ova and testes were
up to the test!