Nurturing Natural Nomenclature

I spell Me, A-T-C-G
And have ever since high school
When I wrote a paper
On the exciting field of genome research
Before someone could actually spell themselves out
In a pattern of letters
Stretched across a computer screen
For all the world to see
I blame Watson for not having a better name
Because when I hear DNA
I only think of Francis Crick and LSD
And I want to get out my tweezers
And pull apart the pieces
The building blocks of the individual
So that I might understand the whole
In some new way
And come to realize that nothing ever was
Anything more than it was intended to be
By circumstances beyond my control
That drowned me in prenatal hormones
And postnatal shows of authority
That kept me busy ignoring the possibility
That there ever was anything more to me
Than just some arbitrary situation
Where a strand of letters
Lacked the strength to take a stand
Against more subtle forms of encouragement
In disappointed glances
From an all too familiar face
Of exhaustion
From a few too many beers
And a handful of too much time
To sit around and think
About a blue baby boy
Who never seemed to fully recover
From a brief journey to the other side
And has trouble reminding himself
Of the all important U
In his life
Despite repeated attempts
At reminding him of the importance
Of the past on the present
And of all the footsteps he'll follow
On the way to the grave
Simply because
He is called by your name