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The story of this world of ours
is one of mystery,
How many life forms have evolved
on land and in the sea;
Though science is a funny thing
and hard to understand,
Some answers to the ancient past
are found in Newfoundland.
This little isle of Newfoundland,
way back in history,
Was part of one great continent
that stretched from sea to sea;
Soft bodied creatures of the earth
had not yet grown hard shells,
They reproduced themselves like clones,
by splitting up their cells.
The story of the Cambrian
is found at Fortune Head,
And life's beginnings can be seen
in the cliffs of Fortune Head;
And there is so much history
just waiting to be read,
The tale of life is written there
in the cliffs of Fortune Head.
Then some explosion of great force,
that we can not explain,
Just ripped apart those massive lands,
reforming them again;
As earthquakes made new continents,
the seas were rearranged,
Volcanoes threw new mountains up --
life on this planet changed.
The atmosphere was different, too,
more oxygen and sun,
Those little creatures found
romance made reproduction fun;
In numbers great they multiplied,
new species now were born,
To keep them safe from predators,
new armoured coats were worn.
The story of these changes
now Is written in the sand,
That forms the layers of the cliffs,
right there in Newfoundland;
On Fortune Head is where you'll find
the boundary of that time,
Precambrian to Cambrian,
when life was in its prime.
The story of the Cambrian
is found at Fortune Head,
And life's beginnings can be seen
in the cliffs of Fortune Head;
And there is so much history
just waiting to be read,
The tale of life is written there
in the cliffs of Fortune Head.
Printed in Canadian Stories, 1999.
