Now Poems

 WHY

“Why,” the young man asked his father

“Why are our Y's not the same?

I'm your son and I carry your name,

but our haplogroups are different.

I don't understand. Please father,

tell me if you can.”

“It's difficult,” his father agreed,

“to understand how I have one haplogroup,

and you have quite another.

I think you and I should both go inside

and have a talk, a very long talk,

with your mother.”

DNA Results

My DNA test results arrived today,

and for our family,

it means big changes are here, or soon on the way.

My Mother's father's brother's niece's daughter's only son

won't call me “Mom” anymore,

and it makes me feel so sad,

but he saw my results today too,

so now he'll call me “Dad.”

DNA Test

They say that there's a test where I can find out
all sorts of family stuff,
like who Uncle Walter's real father was,
and why my brothers are all bald
and why Grandma was so tough
she could drink booze and work just like a man.
It might tell me the reason Aunt Grace's kids
all resemble her neighbor next door.
It will confirm who my ancestors were. I already know their names.
Like a puzzle, it will take the pieces and put them together until they all fit...
or maybe they won't fit, and I'll need to find new names.
All I need to do is pay a little money,
then send them a swab or some spit
and unlock the secrets of my DNA.

Private Tree #1

Hey! Hey! What do you say!
You and I share DNA!
Wow! It's a pretty big match that I see,
and I'll just have a look at your ….....WHAT!
Your tree is private? How can that be?
You don't want to share your ancestors? Not even with me?
So I wrote a note, hoping you'd answer.
I expected you to say something. It's no big chore.
Then I wrote you another note, and another,
and pretty soon there were forty-seven notes
in your email box, just waiting for you to ignore.
Yes, what can I say?
The more you ignored me, the more it caused
me to get carried away. I should not have suggested
that your line must be the part of the family I hate,
since that's not fair to you OR to my uncle Tate,
and for me to infer that you didn't put a picture up
because of your ugly face was rude, crude, and nasty,
even if it's true.
I said something stupid like that,
and now you've blocked my emails too.
Public match and private tree. What am I to do?

Private Tree #2

I had a reason to make this tree private

while I tested a theory or two

about a cousin in my extended family

who doesn't match me like she should.

It's private so she doesn't see what I'm up to.

I wasn't trying to be selfish or mean;

in fact, my motives were nothing but good.

But boy did I make people mad!

I was willing to give them information about

people on my tree, but a few weren't satisfied

unless they, personally, could see, and they were really p.o.'d at me.

Even my own family wonders what the secret could be.

They ask if it's a project about weird Uncle Joe,

but their eyes ask “or is it about me?”

I've decided my cousin matches me

right where she should,

but the tree will stay locked and private for now

or maybe, even for good.

Private Tree #3

I have a public tree and I'm very glad I do.

You don't have to contact me to see it.

It's just there waiting for you.

Whatever is in it, I'm happy to share,

and if you don't agree with something you see,

just contact me. Leave me a note.

I care. You see?

It doesn't bother me if you have a private tree...

if you want to do that, it's fine,

but I think that since yours is private,

you shouldn't be allowed to see mine.

If they tell us we're related, you can look at your tree

and see how we match, and on which line,

but because yours is private, I'm denied that opportunity.

You probably think I'll defend your right to a private tree,

but I won't. Sorry, but that's just not me.

“I'm leaving it private!” you shout.

I'll nod and say “that's fine.

Just promise me that you'll stick it

somewhere the sun don't shine!”

DNA Results #3

I'm not related to Grandpaw, no matter how hard I try
to shift the DNA around, or alter an X or Y.
The lady across the street is related to Grandpaw.
I don't understand how that can be, when she's not related to the rest of us,
not to Grandmaw, not to me.
I have a brand new brother, and I think the world of him.
I liked him when he was my husband,
but now he's my brother Jim.
This DNA is perplexing. They say it's quite a tool,
but the more I use it, the more it seems
to make me feel like a fool.

Genetic Genealogy

I started family history to learn about my ancestors, to find their names
occupations, religions and personal philosophies;
things that had meaning for all their descendants, even my cousins and me.
They were Mennonites, Brethren, Episcopalians. A few Catholics joined the queue.
They were Swiss, Irish, French, English, German.
They came to America when it was a colony. They came late in the nineteenth century.
They arrived in the 1600's, at least one family did, or two.

Then came a confirmation of sorts. The brother tested his “Y” in 2005,
but his haplogroup wasn't the “right” haplogroup.
It didn't match most of the “others” who shared our last name,
so a group of us “wannabees” figured out who
probably messed with fate in 1718.
We blamed a barmaid named Priscilla,
and thought the rest of our genealogy would probably remain the same.

But Priscilla was just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak,
for autosomal testing came along and women could be tested too.
We had NPE's all over the place;
my chart had so many broken lines.
That abolitionist back east that I was so proud of
is probably someone's third great-grandfather,
but he's certainly not mine.

There was one ancestral line we found
that had no NPE's.
Well, maybe they did, but none that I've found anyway.
They were a religious bunch, and I like to point out,
whenever I get the chance,
that for Primitive Baptists to misbehave
all they had to do....was dance!

Then came boasts from the various DNA companies,
each saying that they had the best formula to test for ethnicity.
Well, with two Irish great-grandparents, fresh off the boat,
I should test Irish twenty-five percent, but I'll settle for what they gave me.
Nine to fifteen percent is all I really need.
I still have the Swiss (for the stubbornness)
but most of me became suddenly Swede!

So start your testing with one company or more,
if you can afford it, test with three or four,
and get everyone in the family to test.
It's all pretty easy-no blood involved,
just a swab or a little spit.
Then combine all your matches and ancestral lines like a puzzle,
and hope the pieces fit.

My best advice is start young, while you're active and in your prime,
because that puzzle may take forever to finish,
so allot yourself enough time.
When an old acquaintance that you happen to run into
asks “what happened to that genetic genealogy project? Did you ever get that done?”
just smile and say “I could have finished it years ago, but I enjoy it so much....
I'm still doing it because I'm having too much fun!”

Ancestors' Names

Two! Four! Six! Eight! I'm glad that we triangulate!
BUT I match so many common names.
My Smiths, Greens, Martins, or Blacks might match with me
and they also may match each other.
So are they the Smiths, Greens, Martins and Blacks from my father's side,
or the Smiths, Greens, Martins and Blacks who match my mother?
They all had common first names, too.
If I had a common surname, I'd give the kids unique first names.
Hezekiah, Obadiah, Henrietta and Boo are perfect with Smith.
Absolom, Malachi, Guenivere and Fredericka are great with Green,
while Morningside, Stevenson, Aldrich and Montana
are Martin names through and through.
Guiseppi, Geronimo, Jeremiah and Fuchsia sound great with Black. They do!
So while we check our matches and use new tools for the DNA,
wouldn't it be nice if we could re-name our ancestors
somewhere along the way?

The God Game

There was talk this year of killing off certain species

of mosquitoes that carry disease, and that reminded me

of another house we owned a while back, and how one species

of beautiful purple dragonfly would arrive

in late summer or early fall of the year.

The dragonflies would fly high over the lawn and feast on mosquitoes.

When the mosquitoes were devoured, the dragonflies moved on.

Killing off whole species of mosquitoes

might seem like a wonderful thing to do

until we realize we're possibly killing off

species of dragonflies too.

There's also talk about ridding man of certain inherited diseases

by just altering a gene or two.

That sounds very safe, unless you start worrying about

what else they want to alter too.

Maybe someone wants to get rid of all the redheads in the world

or make sure everyone's eyes are blue.

When we start messing with Nature too much,

we're playing the God Game and the rules will change.

We'll be controlling Nature and nothing will ever be the same.

Our enemies will be in control too.

Do I hope that the species my side creates will be better and big enough

to pound the heck out of yours and you?

If you want to live in a really cold place, like maybe the North Pole,

just make a person with a hefty physique your DNA goal.

Do you want a population that's tall, so they'll do well in any running sport?

If you favor gymnastics, do you want people to be short?

Soon everyone will be playing the God Game,

so you have to understand, that before all that happens,

we need a plan.

Who's the director? Who's calling the shots?

Are we all allowed to opt-in or opt-out

and why or why not?

Will anything ever be the same

once everyone's playing the God Game?