This question from Lily, who also wonders if at some point humans used to lay eggs. I would say that we did lay eggs, but it was before we were human. Mind you I’m no evolutionary biologist.
When we were very simple, very small
We broke off little pieces of ourselves
To make ourselves again, again, again.
But each new tiny self was just a copy.
A simple pattern, endlessly repeating
Nothing could change. Again, again, again.
And so, one morning, we began to mix
Ourselves with others.
To make someone who was entirely new
The new one was so small and delicate;
We made a shell so that, at least at first,
The new one would be safe until it grew.
The shell had to be thin, easy to break
So that the new one could get out of there
And strong enough keep out those who’d harm it.
The shells were difficult to keep protected.
We couldn’t take them with us to find food.
And so we made our bodies be the shell
And when we mixed ourselves to make a new one
We carried them inside to keep them safe.
We’ve changed a lot since then. We’re human now.
(Because, of course, we mixed ourselves with others
And every time we made somebody new
We changed a little bit, became ourselves.)
But that idea has stuck, because it works.
Tom Juniper Poetry 