Grand Simplicity
by Michael Romani

There is a sense of wicked, needless perversity
In resolving global coral's afflicted adversity
Perhaps understanding this begins with curiosity
Learning the species quite thoroughly
Super structures build by simple organisms
That have become a report on the oceans in microcosm

Seeming simplicity as seen strictly from the outside
That view does not tell the story from the inside
Quietly sophisticated in the uniquely special way
No need for opposable thumbs to be more than okay
Thousands of polyps cooperate to form in a mega-one
This is just how it's been done since time first begun

Inside each is a micro-algae daylight food factory
Daylight feeding by photosynthesis that proves satisfactory
As this supra-animal grows, its skeleton is secreted
The polyps grow over it again as was always intended
The as the sun goes down, the polyps pop out 
With stingers at the ready for the passing morsels they flout

Coral is a foundation species in a thousand shapes
Proving the ocean nurseries in a myriad of seascapes
Always the grand simplicity behind the world's reefs
As sacred to the oceans as mankind's own oceanic beliefs
A simplicity so large that some can be seen from space
With only one wish, to co-exist with our silly human race

(c) August 7, 2017  Michael Romani
All Rights Reserve