Stickleback

A male role model!

(Too much information to put into haiku form!)

He builds a house -

Guess where the glue comes from, chaps?

His own body, of course, where else?

Ladies (plural) visit and lay their eggs,

And off they swim - don’t ask.

He fertilizes the eggs -

I hope that gives him a little ?pleasure ?satisfaction?

Then it’s just work work work,

Guard the house, see off predators

And the delicate duty not mentioned in the manual - 

Fan the eggs so that they stay aerated -

Did he know that as a boy,

That that presumably 24/7 chore was in the job description?

The eggs need the care for three weeks,

I hazard that’s a long time in stickleback sticklerdom - 

Then what? Is he done? Are there blissfully irresponsible grandfathers

Hanging out with the young?

I think not.

So spare a thought for the stickleback,

Anthropomorphised or not -

It’s worked for thousands of years -

Though I doubt there’s much of a  thank you.

So how did it all evolve - this shining example of fairness,

The males stepping up, doing more of a job?

His tummy goes red in the  process,

Is that a reward, or just a sign that he’s open for business?

This all happens in a very small, very complicated world.