And cannot be defied:
Whether fly or elephant,
You’re born, you live, you die.
But there is an exception
That a diff’rent rule obeys:
There is a humble jellyfish
That in the ocean stays.
When it is time to cash it in
And its end to attain,
It reverts to its pupal stage,
And starts its life again!
And thus for generations
It remains the same,
Repeating every time again
Its immortal game.
At the other life’s extreme
There is the fruit fly’s way:
Its life span can extend
To but a few short days,
And thus geneticists can follow
Evolution’s stress
Watching fruit fly generations
Their genes express.
But is it the same jellyfish
That in the Greek-Persian War
Watched the naval battles
Just off the Greek shore?
Is it the same jellyfish
That saw the Spanish fleet
Go down, at Trafalgar,
In ignominious defeat?
These musings are engendered
As, at my ripe old age,
I contemplate my feelings,
Rational and sage:
Would I rather emulate
The fly or jellyfish,
If for my fate
I could express a wish?