After Our Field Trip

Our science teacher says that
Paramecium are so tiny
that we need a microscope
to see them living in water
like lakes and puddles,
and they have tiny hair-like things
called cilia that they beat back and forth
to make them move.

He says they reproduce
by a process called binary fission
splitting in half
becoming two new Paramecium
that continue to reproduce into a swarm
that swims around
until they find a place to attach.

He says they are eaten
by larger organisms in the water,
or by little kids who swallow
too much lake water
if they suck at swimming.

I would have said
Paramecium can make you puke,
but by the growing blob on the floor,
everyone already knew.