Who could have dreamed them up? At least snails
have shells, but all these have is—nothing.
Brian Swann, from "Slugs."
*
I began to read about the slime itself, and discover that like all mucus, it is a liquid crystal, with some properties of liquid and some of solid.
Emily Wick, "The Shimmering Slime Drawings of Snails and Slugs." Learning How to See, 4/25/2018.
*
Here in this spring, stars float along the void;
Here in this ornamental winter
Down pelts the naked weather;
This summer buries a spring bird.
Symbols are selected from the years'
Slow rounding of four seasons' coasts,
In autumn teach three seasons' fires
And four birds' notes.
I should tell summer from the trees, the worms
Tell, if at all, the winter's storms
Or the funeral of the sun;
I should learn spring by the cuckooing,
And the slug should teach me destruction.
A worm tells summer better than the clock,
The slug's a living calendar of days;
What shall it tell me if a timeless insect
Says the world wears away?
Dylan Thomas, "Here In This Spring."
*
Nagasawa Rosetsu, Slug. 18th century, Edo period. Via Stephen Ellcock.
David Arnold, Chain of Letters, 1976. Via Letterform Archive.
