Twins

my grandpa

had an identical twin

~

his brother

drank, beat his wife

an extreme nationalist

~

in 1926

my grandpa

made a choice

~

never seeing

his fatherland

his family

again

~

identical genes

same upbringing

~

how can two people be so different ?

~

Nanoscopic

each stanza

a sequence

of dna

~

communicating

who I am

~

determining

what I might never be

~

~

“What lies behind us and what lies before us

are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

A New Mix

the basic

genetic ingredients

of my daughter

~

half chinese

quarter german

one eighth polish

one eighth ukrainian

~

add lots of love

stir in some

patience, kindness, understanding

~

born in canada

serving others

with compassion, gratitude, happiness

a citizen of our world

~

Spliced

I asked my aunt

about the farm

~

the cows won’t eat it

they won’t even look at it

~

spliced mice genes with wheat genes

~

the cows walk right past it

and stop at a normal one

while we stop in front of it

at the grocery store

~