A micromole of photons, moonshine bright
Illuminates anoxic microbe mat
Bacteria, archaea use the light
The autotrophs of relict habitat.
Three thousand million years ago they rule
Methanogenic empires of brine
But oxidative phytoplankton’s cruel
Conquistador of oceanic shrine.
The madness of Antarctic mountain vale
Left dry but for this saline alpine lake
The hibernating old ones can prevail
Extremophiles long dormant, now awake.
A benthic mat with
whiffs of oxygen
‘twas once their
planet; now they’ve come again.
Other geosonnets: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66
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