Abstract

This story appears in the October 2026 print edition. While some stories from this issue are not yet available to read online, you can explore more from the magazine.The Atlantic DailyGet our editors’ guide to what matters in the world, delivered to your inbox every weekday.Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Science & Society Picture Library / Getty.September 6, 2026, 11 AM ET Explore the October 2026 IssueCheck out more from this issue and find your next story to read.View MoreFruit flies exposed to many dead fruit flies lose their fat stores, die more quickly than those kept naive. I who have lived long now and will die of my living, not of my grief, and more than once from a public garden stole roses— red ones and pink ones, scented and not— stammer before these troubled and truthful fruit flies.This poem appears in the October 2026 print edition.