Researchers have discovered
an "interacting protein"
on the surfaces
of both sperm and egg
that helps the two
recognize each other
and join.
This protein has
been nicknamed "Izumo"
after a Japanese marriage shrine.
Izumo pairs with "Juno"
named after the Roman
goddess of fertility
(and who later
reincarnated herself
inside of Ellen Page's character's uterus
when she hooked up
with lovable athletic
nerd Paulie Bleeker).
Since the first meeting
of sperm and egg
is the progenitor of
our beloved homo sapiens
(well at least after
the original Big Bang)
and therefore
that of our beauty and cruelty
and mundanity and weirdness
should we also mourn those
who never got to live
in the first place
never even long enough
to be miscarried
or stillborn
whose particular
combination of cells
never formed
for those reasons
which are split into dozens
of college sociology
and history classes?
It sometimes seems easier
than working with
the people we've got
including ourselves.
This poem © 2014 Emily Cooper.
This poem © 2014 Emily Cooper.
