Thousands of Teams Are You Deciphering This

Fifty-three hundred types
Of cells in a mouse brain—
Not cells, mind you, cell types.

Work is now ongoing
To catalog human
Types of brain cells as well—

Thirty-three hundred and
Barely getting started.
The specialization

Of multicellular
Organisms staggers
Multi-organism

(Plus multi-machine) teams.
How many layers of
Specialists will there be

Before the planet tires
Of assembling such teams?
And still, bacteria,

Bacteriophages,
Maybe phage parasites,
Carry on anarchies

That rule from the bottom.
What’s gained by unity
But opportunity

To become cells of the next
Level up, undermined
By every level down?