[The following poem was originally published in VerseWrights]
Birds and Bees
Hearing of birds and bees
I stood at the threshold of life:It wasn’t dad’s idea,
Nor was it mom’s,
That when two parts joined
I would have dad’s brown hair,
Mom’s effortless smile,
Grandpa’s distinctive laugh,
Grandma’s needful vision,
To be sewn together intricately
With the entire history
Of mankind—hearts and
Vessels, nerves and
Brains, bones and
Sinews, livers and
Nodes, all trailing behind
A single spermatozoa,
A bright future ahead of him,
Driven by divine laws of nature
A single agent of fertility.
I stood at the threshold of life:It wasn’t dad’s idea,
Nor was it mom’s,
That when two parts joined
I would have dad’s brown hair,
Mom’s effortless smile,
Grandpa’s distinctive laugh,
Grandma’s needful vision,
To be sewn together intricately
With the entire history
Of mankind—hearts and
Vessels, nerves and
Brains, bones and
Sinews, livers and
Nodes, all trailing behind
A single spermatozoa,
A bright future ahead of him,
Driven by divine laws of nature
A single agent of fertility.
Genius and Venus
Could never conceive of such a “thing”
Not even with twinkles in their eyes.