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According to UNESCO's website, World Poetry Day is held every year on March 21 to celebrate one of humanity's most treasured forms of cultural and linguistic expression and identity. Read more .

It is our great pleasure to announce the winners of the fifth annual Biological Sciences Poetry Contest.  We would like to thank all the contributors.  There are talented poets in our department, and this was a delightful task for the outreach and engagement committee!   

1^st prize – "EPEC: The Winner's Throne" by S. Tara Mann (BISC Undergraduate student)
2^nd prize - "Mother Nature's Whisper" by Puneet Thiara (BISC Undergraduate student)
Haiku winner – â€œSwordferns" by Leanne Tsai (BISC Undergraduate student)

On behalf of the Outreach and Engagement Committee congratulations to the winners!

Please read the poems below.

EPEC: The Winner’s Throne

By S. Tara Mann

A cunning thief, a silent foe,
it colonizes, creeping low.
No toxin spilled, no poisoned blade,
yet still, the gut’s defenses fade.

With pili grasping, firm, yet slight,
it clings and holds with all its might.
A colony forms—a clustered stand,
a takeover, so finely planned.

No aimless drift, no passive stay,
it bends the host in its own way.
A whisper soft, a secret scheme,
Its Type 3 needle shapes the dream.

A trick, a trick! The cell obeys,
its surface shifts, its shape betrays.
Actin bends, a throne is made—
a pedestal where kings are laid.

The gut rebels, the balance sways,
nutrients lost in watery waves.
The host will ache, the fever rise,
yet still, the pathogen survives.

For who can fight what none can see?
Who stops a thief with no decree?
A conqueror with tools so small—
EPEC reigns and takes it all.

Mother Nature's Whisper

by Puneet Thiara

For billions of years, humans have evolved
Into the most intelligent beings taught to think small
You’ve evolved to the point where you look for a purpose
And if you can’t find it, you’ll act like you’re part of a circus
Life is too short compared to the earth
Its only a matter of time before you become part of the dirt
You look lonely sharing the earth with billions like you
Giving your mind to those who clearly dislike you
You look for teachers, books, and rules to guide you
Forgetting how to listen to the earth’s whispers inside you

Look at the snowy mountains in the distance
The edges are torn pages of your story’s resistance
Was the tear between the earth and sky keeping you from your existence?
Then I’ll summon my birds for your assistance
Let them deliver your dreams and wishes to the sky
Stay with the faith that one day you’ll fly
Let them deliver your message to Orion’s bow
He can shoot the arrow to the stars for the universe to know

Even with civilization’s veil of comfort
You can’t escape earth
Throw away the lies they told you
About what defines your worth
Listen to nature, the leaves whisper all the time
Follow the examples and teachings of nature’s shrine
For nature is life, and that life is in you
Allow yourself to harness the only energy that’s true

The leaves of a tree will show death as a beautiful thing
Don’t forget that after winter there will always be spring
I’ll ask the wind to gift you petals as proof
Just promise you’ll go outside whenever you’re stuck in a loop
Like you, water has memory, yet continues to flow
And will turn into the strongest tide under the moonlight’s glow
And after the moon’s night, there’s always the sun’s day
So mesmerizing and brilliant, the sunflowers refuse to look away

The world is not limited by what you see
If it is, then travel to the end and show me
You haven’t evolved to lose your mind
Or to numb your essence, and be swallowed by time
Humans may lie, but the earth does not
Animals could provide you with the guidance you sought

Strip the purpose, their will to live is stronger
Anything to hold onto life a little longer
For our lifespan does not make up one percent of the earth’s
Life is too short to live in a shepard’s herd
Even hyenas will laugh in the times of their death
Prey will continue to fight until their last breath
A moth will keep going towards the light
An injured bird will never stop pursuing flight
The strongest predators are the most patient for their prey
The deadliest vulture won’t strike on someone who could be saved
Birds migrate across the world if a place doesn’t suit them
A horse’s battle cry in history was always alongside a war drum
A wolf doesn’t stop hunting after being abandoned by its pack
To survive, you must learn to protect and attack

Animals never wait for paved roads
They’ve never cared about yesterday’s woes
Even the most beautiful lotus will bloom from the mud
Animals never freeze from the sight of their crimson blood
So don’t let your evolved mind complicate you into a trap
You could break free from the past and future’s grasp
Tell the wind your worries and let it carry them away
The birds will work tirelessly to wake you everyday
The clouds will be whatever shape you choose to see
You’re truly a force of nature if your mind is free

You may have failed, yes its true
And the one to bear the pain was you
The one who stood up again was also you
And that ending is the only relevant truth

You are not the victim of what you couldn’t control
Leave those matters to nature and feed your soul
For the mountains don’t care, neither does the forest
Their gifts of peace will ignite your life’s chorus
Hear your inner voice next time you stare at the ocean
And let Mother Nature help put your thoughts into motion

Swordferns

by Leanne Tsai

Where rain flows downhill
Underskirt of past seasons
Lift the leaf, see spores