the fossil record

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Multiendosymbiotic

"I'm multiendosymbiotic!"
Sounds paranoid, perhaps psychotic.
But, truthfully, I'm not alone.
Inside me others' parts have grown.

I speak not of replication,
Through normal mito-division,
But of unsought unasked donation
Of micro parts from ancient nation.

The question is not what but where
My complex self should delete dare.
Should I cast out with mighty shout
Those cell parts that lie about
Their questionable ancestry?

Should I before the reaper’s spell,
Recast this cast, spurn those that dwell
Inside, that hide in compound cell?
I must ponder dilemma leisurely
For aliens mine serve gestalt we
i.e. sans mitochondrial industry
I'd quick run out of energy.

Because of much prior input
What see you is but
Small part me and of them a lot.
Change would be of danger wrought.
So I'll be me with what I've got.

Anastasia Voight