Counting Sheep White Blood Cells
Sujata Bhatt
for Jo Shapcott
It was like being ordered
to count the stars
and to classify them
by their size, their brightness -
And it was like being ordered
to count all the tiny wild flowers
in a never-ending field
and to name them -
There were days
when she, the lab technician
would sit staring through the microscope
for five hours straight
counting sheep white blood cells.
(Full poem unable to be reproduced due to the copyright)
VOCABULARY
Classify - to categorise something scientifically
Technician - a person who works in a laboratory, conducting scientific research and
investigations and measuring data
Unreal - not real
Macrophage - a type of white blood cell that attacks and destroys bacteria in the
body
In vitro - scientific studies that involve experimenting on biological material outside
of its natural context - typically in ‘test tubes’
Lymphocytes - a different kind of white blood cell
, Leukocytes -an umbrella term for different types of white blood cell, including
lymphocytes
Erythrocytes - red blood cells
Corpuscles - living cells, such as white and red blood cells
Intact - undamaged
Translucent - semi see-through
Burrs - a rough, spiky edge - often used to describe the part of a seed which sticks
and catches on animals so that it can be spread throughout the environment. A burr
cell is also another name for an echinocyte, a type of red blood cell
STORY/SUMMARY
Stanza 1: Her job was as if someone had told her to count the stars and categorise
them according to their size and brightness.
Stanza 2: And it was like being ordered to count all the tiny wildflowers in an infinite
field, and name them all - there were days when she (the lab technician) would stare
through a microscope for five hours without a break, counting white blood cells in a
similar way to how a person might count sheep as they’re going to sleep.
Stanza 3: But she didn’t sleep while she did this repetitive task. Instead, it energised
her - she felt powerful and wired as if she were the electricity that powered the
microscope.
Stanza 4: Whenever she looked up from the microscope, to add in a new slide, the lab
spun all around her, and it looked unreal - because she had been focusing for so long
on the tiny world contained within the microscope slide, which was a world of dreams
- full of galaxies of sheep.
Stanza 5: It was the macrophage that she was looking for - the one type of cell that
it’s impossible to grow in vitro - the missing secret, which if discovered, would unlock
the mysteries of the immune system. But she had to sit there and count, and also
uncount, the other different types of white blood cells that kept getting in the way of
her hunt for the macrophage - the lymphocytes, leukocytes and large erythrocytes.
Sujata Bhatt
for Jo Shapcott
It was like being ordered
to count the stars
and to classify them
by their size, their brightness -
And it was like being ordered
to count all the tiny wild flowers
in a never-ending field
and to name them -
There were days
when she, the lab technician
would sit staring through the microscope
for five hours straight
counting sheep white blood cells.
(Full poem unable to be reproduced due to the copyright)
VOCABULARY
Classify - to categorise something scientifically
Technician - a person who works in a laboratory, conducting scientific research and
investigations and measuring data
Unreal - not real
Macrophage - a type of white blood cell that attacks and destroys bacteria in the
body
In vitro - scientific studies that involve experimenting on biological material outside
of its natural context - typically in ‘test tubes’
Lymphocytes - a different kind of white blood cell
, Leukocytes -an umbrella term for different types of white blood cell, including
lymphocytes
Erythrocytes - red blood cells
Corpuscles - living cells, such as white and red blood cells
Intact - undamaged
Translucent - semi see-through
Burrs - a rough, spiky edge - often used to describe the part of a seed which sticks
and catches on animals so that it can be spread throughout the environment. A burr
cell is also another name for an echinocyte, a type of red blood cell
STORY/SUMMARY
Stanza 1: Her job was as if someone had told her to count the stars and categorise
them according to their size and brightness.
Stanza 2: And it was like being ordered to count all the tiny wildflowers in an infinite
field, and name them all - there were days when she (the lab technician) would stare
through a microscope for five hours without a break, counting white blood cells in a
similar way to how a person might count sheep as they’re going to sleep.
Stanza 3: But she didn’t sleep while she did this repetitive task. Instead, it energised
her - she felt powerful and wired as if she were the electricity that powered the
microscope.
Stanza 4: Whenever she looked up from the microscope, to add in a new slide, the lab
spun all around her, and it looked unreal - because she had been focusing for so long
on the tiny world contained within the microscope slide, which was a world of dreams
- full of galaxies of sheep.
Stanza 5: It was the macrophage that she was looking for - the one type of cell that
it’s impossible to grow in vitro - the missing secret, which if discovered, would unlock
the mysteries of the immune system. But she had to sit there and count, and also
uncount, the other different types of white blood cells that kept getting in the way of
her hunt for the macrophage - the lymphocytes, leukocytes and large erythrocytes.
