I was inspired to write this poem (first poem on The Microbial Menagerie!) from a writing workshop I’ve been taking.
We were reading Workshop by BIlly Collins, and there was a line in there “Or is it a kind of indoor cemetery? There’s something about death going on here.” that this is loosely based upon.
Bdellovibrio, the microscopic vampire
Bdellovibrio is a special type of predator.
Tiny in size,
Not large like the tigers and lions we think of.
Microscopic, in fact.
Invisible to the human eye.
It dwells beneath our feet,
In the soil,
And on plant roots.
It’s even in the ocean.
Bdellovibrio, we call this bacterium.
Some call it the vampire of bacteria.
But it does not suck blood.
No, what it does it different.
Bdellovibrio finds its prey.
Another bacterium, in fact.
It latches on,
And begins an invasion.
Once inside, Bdellovibrio begins to eat,
Feasting for nutrients,
Killing its prey from the inside out.
Bdellovibrio grows.
Replicating.
Dividing.
All at the expense of its prey.
Soon, there are too many Bdellovibrio within the empty shell,
A carcass of sorts.
It bursts, spewing the contents outwards.
The vampire bacterium escapes.
Only to find more bacteria to feast upon.
A continuous cycle.
To learn more about Bdellovibirio, check out this blog post.
