Fungus Gnat Versery

Things can go terribly wrong.
They’ve done so four billion years,
Almost. Every time a cell

Orients to a new smell
For provisions or mating
Or some kind of partnership,

Some other kind of cell smells
Its own opportunity
In vulnerability—

For every pollinating
Fungus gnat that emerges
From fungus gnat nurseries,

Sniffing out blooms and more gnats,
There’s a jack-in-the-pulpit
Evolving carnivory

In sessile varieties,
Involving smells that lure gnats
With homey mushroom odors

Or the scents of sexy gnats.
Any gnats that fall for that
Dissolve in the acid vats.

And that’s just one example.
It’s gotten so enduring
Collaborations in life

Seem mostly between victims
And their villains. This can’t go
Wrong. It’s been wrong all along.