In the great debate of skeletons —
Exo- or spinal, molting or extension,
Imperturbable in as-if-coiled tension,
Invertebrate silo’s skelp stuns.
Cylinder instar feeding and un-feeding
Whose circulatory system bulks half-hidden —
Crane palps, conveyor gut, tubes hatch-ridden —
From chambered ducts its friable ichor is bleeding.
In a convergence of skeletons,
The waves of grain envelop one
On roads where towers awe velocities;
Symbiont scale embosses these
Stockades of process and proboscides;
Men and trucks adhere like whelks in
Helotism, hellgrammites against the welkin.
Skelp – A strip of metal for making a hollow cylindrical piece or tube by bending it around longitudinally or helically and welding.
Instar – In biology, the form of an insect or other arthropod between molts during the process of growth and development; for example, the larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis), and the adult (imago) of a butterfly are instars.
Palp – In zoology, an elongated sensory organ, usually near the mouth, in invertebrate organisms such as mollusks, crustaceans, and insects.
Ichor – (Pronounced EYE-kor) 1) In Greek mythology, the rarefied fluid said to run in the veins of the gods; 2) a fluid likened to blood.
Symbiont – (Pronounced SIM-bee-ont) One of the organisms, especially the smaller member, of a symbiotic relationship in which two dissimilar organisms live closely together to mutual or unequal benefit.
Scale – Here, a play on two meanings of “scale”: 1) encrustation; and 2) magnitude.
Proboscides – (Pronounced pro-BOS-id-eez) The plural of “proboscis” (pronounced pro‑BOS‑is) A slender, tubular feeding and sucking structure of some insects and worms; a long flexible snout or trunk, as of an elephant.
Helotism – (Pronounced HEL-ot-izm) In biology, any symbiotic relationship of plants or animals in which one symbiont functions as the slave of the other, as that of the alga to the fungus in lichens.
Hellgrammite – (Pronounced HEL-gram-ite) The larva of the dobson fly.