On this day tradition allots
\nto taking stock of our lives,
\nmy greetings to all of you, Yeasts,
\nBacteria, Viruses,
\nAerobics and Anaerobics:
\nA Very Happy New Year
\nto all for whom my ectoderm
\nis as Middle-Earth to me.<\/p>\n
For creatures your size I offer
\na free choice of habitat,
\nso settle yourselves in the zone
\nthat suits you best, in the pools
\nof my pores or the tropical
\nforests of arm-pit and crotch,
\nin the deserts of my fore-arms,
\nor the cool woods of my scalp.<\/p>\n
Build colonies: I will supply
\nadequate warmth and moisture,
\nthe sebum and lipids you need,
\non condition you never
\ndo me annoy with your presence,
\nbut behave as good guests should,
\nnot rioting into acne
\nor athlete’s-foot or a boil.<\/p>\n
Does my inner weather affect
\nthe surfaces where you live?
\nDo unpredictable changes
\nrecord my rocketing plunge
\nfrom fairs when the mind is in tift
\nand relevant thoughts occur
\nto fouls when nothing will happen
\nand no one calls and it rains.<\/p>\n
I should like to think that I make
\na not impossible world,
\nbut an Eden it cannot be:
\nmy games, my purposive acts,
\nmay turn to catastrophes there.
\nIf you were religious folk,
\nhow would your dramas justify
\nunmerited suffering?<\/p>\n
By what myths would your priests account
\nfor the hurricanes that come
\ntwice every twenty-four hours,
\neach time I dress or undress,
\nwhen, clinging to keratin rafts,
\nwhole cities are swept away
\nto perish in space, or the Flood
\nthat scalds to death when I bathe?<\/p>\n
Then, sooner or later, will dawn
\na Day of Apocalypse,
\nwhen my mantle suddenly turns
\ntoo cold, too rancid, for you,
\nappetising to predators
\nof a fiercer sort, and I
\nam stripped of excuse and nimbus,
\na Past, subject to Judgement.<\/p>\n
After an article by Mary J. Marples
\nin Scientific American, January, 1969<\/p>\n
En aquest dia la tradici\u00f3 assenyala
\nfer inventari de les nostres vides,
\nsalutacions a tots vosaltres, Llevats,
\nBact\u00e8ries, Virus,
\nAer\u00f2bics i An\u00e0er\u00f2bics:
\nun Molt Feli\u00e7 Any Nou
\na tots aquells per a qui el meu ectoderma
\n\u00e9s com l’Orient Mitj\u00e0 per a mi.<\/p>\n
Per a criatures de la vostra mida ofereixo
\nun h\u00e0bitat que podeu escollir,
\nde manera que instal\u00b7leu-vos a la zona
\nque m\u00e9s us convingui, a les basses
\ndels meus porus o als boscos
\ntropicals de l’aixella i l’entrecuix,
\nals deserts dels meus avantbra\u00e7os,
\no als boscos c\u00e0lids de la meva cabellera.<\/p>\n
Constru\u00efu col\u00f2nies: us subministrar\u00e9
\nla humitat i l’escalfor adequades,
\nla seborrea i els l\u00edpids que us calguin,
\namb la condici\u00f3 que no m’amo\u00efneu
\nmai amb la vostra pres\u00e8ncia
\ni us comporteu com a bons hostes,
\nsense que l’acne es revolti,
\nni els peus d’atleta, ni un fur\u00f2ncol.<\/p>\n
\u00bfCreieu que la meva temperatura
\ninterna afecta les superf\u00edcies on viviu?
\nUna canvis imprevisibles
\ndocumenten la meva immersi\u00f3 propulsada
\ndes de fires on la ment s’angunieja
\ni als miserables se’ls acuden pensaments
\nrellevants quan no passa res de res
\ni nin\u00fa no truca i va plovent.<\/p>\n
M’agradaria pensar que estic fent
\nun m\u00f3n que no \u00e9s impossible,
\nper\u00f2 que no pot ser un \u00eaden:
\nels meus jocs, els meus actes resoluts,
\nall\u00e0 poden esdevenir catastr\u00f2fics.
\nSi tu fossis un tipus religi\u00f3s,
\nels teus drames \u00bfcom justificarien
\nun patiment immerescut?<\/p>\n
\u00bfD’acord amb quins mites els teus sacerdots
\nexplicarien que els huracans arribin
\ndues vegades cada vint-i-quatre hores,
\ncada cop que em vesteixo i desvesteixo,
\nquan, aferrades a rais de queratina,
\nciutats snceres s\u00f3n esbandides
\ni van a morir en l’espai, o b\u00e9 a la marea
\nque m’escalda fins a la mort quan em banyo?<\/p>\n
Despr\u00e9s, m\u00e9s tard o m\u00e9s d’hora, clarejar\u00e0
\nel Dia de l’Apocalipsi,
\nquan el meu mantell tot d’una es tornar\u00e0
\nmassa fred, massa ranci per a tu,
\napetit\u00f3s per als predadors
\nd’una esp\u00e8cie m\u00e9s ferotge, i jo
\nestar\u00e9 despullat d’excuses i nimbres,
\namb un passat pendent de judici.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On this day tradition allots to taking stock of our lives, my greetings to all of you, Yeasts, Bacteria, Viruses, Aerobics and Anaerobics: A Very Happy New Year to all for whom my ectoderm is as Middle-Earth to me. For creatures your size I offer a free choice of habitat, so settle yourselves in the … <\/p>\n