Tina Demirdjian: Worm Biology

In the school science book, two earthworms

nestled together, so their clitella

were touching–closer to one another

than I had been to anyone,

at 16, I was like an inside out shirt,

squirmy in my seat,

my eyes stared at the attachment of two worms

like a human suction cup,

the teacher’s words fell through the cracks

in the floor: reproduction, ovulation, anticipation,

and my head turned to look at my classmate

who listened, too, her pregnant belly

at the edge of the desk:  how she had known

all of this too soon.