A Brief History of Muscles

The body is ancient, almost
old as the dust, almost old
as the stars In the heavens
of the body, Pectoralis Major,
the great muscle, pulsates
light into remote regions
while shy Pectoralis Minor
turns away its face, blushing,
toward the heart's wall.
In the early days of the body,
sternocleidomastoid roamed
its steamy jungles, even
the arctic regions, nemesis
to triceratops and tyrannosaurus
rex, terrorizing the harmless
flexors and driving extensors
to the brink of extinction.
Latisimus dorsi swam
in schools through fjords
feeding on hapless platisma.
This was before the reign
of Rectus Abdominis, first
emperor of the Lower Countries,
father of Gluteus Maximus,
grandfather to Gluteus Minimus.
The great scholar, Trapezius,
authored the Laws of Motion
the same year Gastrocnemius,
roaming the Islets of Langerhans,
predicted the tides of the sea.
So much liquid to keep track
of, flowing this way and that.
Prince Sartorius I, recalling
the great Caesar, divided
all Galbladder into nine parts:
the mountainous biceps,
the rolling triceps, the populous
and urban quadriceps where
clogged arteries carry the commerce
of the land and, on a warm day,
a sporty Rhomboid might be seen,
top down, two invincible women
in its two seats, racing the breeze
along Route 66, pronator humming,
CD player pumping out tunes,
the External Obliques jamming
their way to stardom.

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