Gabe Gudding has a great poem about a woodlouse, which I hope he'll post.
Mairead
On Mon, 26 Apr 1999, pain wrote:
> I must say I like Richard's weather reports and accounts of his garden.
> Actually I am quite envious of him, because outside I have a rectangle sheet
> of green plastic which might from a great distance, say a satellite, be
> taken for a lawn. In summer it lets off a gas. The only life forms I have
> seen in the garden aside from the neighbours cats, have been centipedes with
> long feathery legs which can run at an infinitely fast speed, and woodlice,
> seven thousand million cousins removed from trilobites. With no birds or
> mammals around, I have taken up the hobby of woodlouse watching. Something
> which can be done from the comfort of your desk.
> These tiny creatures don't get up too much, so it gives you plenty of time
> to think of other things. Indeed I spend most of my time thinking of other
> things. But there are those "Woodies" who will take you to quiet
> corner --maybe a damp one -- and inform you that like some humans, the
> common garden woodlouse does not have a lengthy courtship --around five
> minutes--
> the male waves his antennae (no Radio 3 subtext here) and if he finds a
> receptive female he rests his antennae on her --if she hasn't run off -- and
> then -- licks her head and taps her on the back with his front legs --and
> then we proceed to the act . It is a little different from humans as sperm
> transfer is reversed, and the the female has openings on the left and right
> side. Some lucky(?) species can reproduce without males, this is known as
> parthenogenesis. I could give, for those interested parties, an unexpurgated
> account of what woodlice are doing in my garden. This has led me away from
> the topic. a suggestion of mine.
> That we have a British-poets mailbase archive of one wav file of each
> poet/writer on the list reading one of their poems. Is that technically
> possible? is it of any interest at all? Or has it aready happened?
>
> Yours
>
> Stephen
> Who is this moment considering writing an "Ode to a Woodlouse"dedicated to
> Dr.A. Comfort
>
> Many Happy Returns to Richard's Father!
>
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