M. Leprae Lament

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Variant of evolution
Survivor among the fittest
Now under threat
As eradication gears up
Spear-headed from Geneva.Mycobacterium_leprae.jpg
 
Multiplying in division
Of purposeless survival
Intent on harm
For as long as we can
On as many as we can.
 
Retreat into the Schwann cell
Interrupting messages
In neuronal damage
That leaves our imprint
On fossilised history.
 
Attacked with a knife
And squeezed from the skin
Doused in red
And drowned in blue
For indexing on a slide.
 
Nibbled into granules
By giant cells marshalled
And lymphocytes activated
To pin us down
In corporate annihilation.
 
The final onslaught
Pharmacologically engineered
To destroy us
In extermination
And the Maker’s delight.
 
April 2010

Soliloquy of the leprosy bacillus

Illustration of mycobacterium leprae:
from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA