The Poetry of Science

Episode 1: Deep-sea Tremors

This episode features an investigation into the relationship between deep-sea fish and earthquakes in Japan.

Read this episode’s science poem

From buried cracks
And open wounds
Shrouded scales
Begin to seep.
Cutting across murky waters
Into buried memories
And forgotten half-truths,
Inky fingerprints
Preserve their presence
Alongside court proceedings
And local weather reports.
Over time these sightings
Are recalled as prophecies;
Portents of the restless Earth
That slyly secrete themselves


As cherished traditions.
Curious custodians
Challenge accepted lore,
Their digital excavations
Laying bare the absence of fact.
The fallacy of this folklore
Cast beneath the waves;
An empty carcass on which
The ribbonfish can feast.

By Dr Sam Illingworth

The original episode appeared here

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