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Biology 101
My mind goes back to a time when I was attending college in Lynchburg;
My thoughts focus in on a particular moment frozen within my memory.
A lab exam I thought would be a piece of cake, just a cut here and there,
As the end of the first semester was nearing in Biology 101.
We had reached into the formaldehyde to retrieve a creatures carcass;
We had dissected and identified different parts of numerous forms.
But this morning I entered the classroom to see about 30 live frogs;
I had never thought of killing in order to learn in Biology 101.
The Instructor showed us how to bend the frogs neck down,
Then insert the dissecting needle into its spine pithing its nerves.
He said that this frees the frog from pain as we earn our grade;
My heart feels like a stone as I look at my lab partner in Biology 101.
Then the moment that defines this time within my memory happens,
As a student cradles his frog, and walks to the window across the room.
He opened the window, and freed the frog into the grass outside;
He turned and said “ Give me an F!” then walked out the door of Biology 101.
There was nervous murmurs as the instructor refocused the class,
And like sheep the remainder of the students did our assignment.
I remember pithing my frog as my partner and I completed the task;
The heart of this frog was still beating after I removed it in Biology 101.
Within myself I remember wishing I could have stood and freed my frog too,
But I'm just a sheep, bleating for approval and a passing mark.
I now vividly remember taking the life from this innocent amphibian,
But I don't remember the grade I received in Biology 101.
This frog's life had meaning, as he didn't die in vain;
God showed me in that moment that all His creation is precious.
I wonder about that student who walked out, and how his life turned out;
But I know that I learned respect for life in all forms in Biology 101.
15Jan08
Poetry Ad-Free Upgrades
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