She Refuses to Help But Still You Try

You reflect happily on times gone by,

On parents that raised you the best they could.

Her early life was damaged; you won’t pry.

 

Remember when you caught each other’s eye,

Both spotting a mouse corpse oozing fresh blood;

You reflect happily on times gone by.

 

You build the mouse a tomb whilst she does sigh,

She told you that you really understood

Her early life was damaged; you won’t pry.

 

The larvae hatch and famished now they cry

For you to feed them until they are stood;

You reflect happily on times gone by.

 

She refuses to help, but still you try

To raise your children, as you know you should.

Her early life was damaged; you won’t pry.

 

Exertions mean that you will slowly die,

But hopefully your brood will grow up good.

You reflect happily on times gone by,

Her early life was damaged; you won’t pry.

This is a villanelle based on this piece of research, which found that burying beetles that were raised well were also likely to be good parents, whilst good fathers that were paired with poor mothers were also likely to have a decreased life expectancy, because of having to exert extra energies in compensating for the shortcomings of their mate.