For down the tube I see the dance of life,
Microbes, exalted to the heavens, rife
With mirrors! Next day, an HPLC
Down spirituous gullet sips cocktails. Each microbe
On fan-fold makes flowing waves, like the Gwy
To the distant ocean, protector¹ of our globe.
At Plynlimon, what winds may blow, when the mind
Can welcome Uncertainty, with romance are twined.
(When Microbes Wink was an impulsive first attempt at a poem, written in November 1995.
It is too abstruse and clumsy for my liking, with many questions left unanswered and themes
undeveloped. My dissatisfaction led me to begin work on The Quest on 1 January 1996.)