Silkworm cocoons
There are many uses for silk from the cocoons of silkworms.
Image: Thinkstock
Written by Celia Berrell
A one-kilometre
single thread
each silkworm spins
as a cocoon bed.
That protein-filled strand,
untangled and long,
makes fine-woven fabrics
so light, yet strong.
Surgery too
has discovered silk’s riches.
Incredibly thin
for dissolvable stitches.
Dissolvable pins
have made recent news
where baked-silk goes stiff
to make broken-bone screws.
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