Thursday, August 11, 2011

The Hidden Tree


THEME THURSDAY
supplied the illustration

THE HIDDEN TREE

The Family Name! How grandiose!
How proud and dominating!
This tree shows all the offspring
From the convoluted mating!
The Name! The Name! It's passed on down
To future generations,
And all who share the self-same name
Share self-congratulations.
The surnames of the mighty Sirs,
Or should we call them Sires (?),
Emblazoned on the Family Trees,
Are what the world admires.
But what of the other, the hidden tree,
That weaves through all the spaces?
Forgotten Family names and titles,
Overlooked female faces?
Their names appear but once, that's all,
In a single generation,
And then their female offspring,
Take another appellation.
But mitochondria has proved
That their invisible tree
Is many times more powerful
Than what the world can see.
The genetic line through females
Is the one that really matters;
It remains constant down the years;
The sperm count merely scatters.
Muscular strength and dominance
Meant female inferiority;
Now science makes it clear we have
Genetic superiority.
So when you view this Family Tree,
Don't be over-awed
By all the Family Names you see;
The system's simply flawed.
*
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FIND THE PICTURE!
Visiting a friend, I spied,
On casting my eye around inside,
A painting of a charming scene.....
Somewhere I had often been.
'Ah! A photo!' I exclaimed!
A record of it could be claimed.
And here's the result! Here, on the wall,
The painting isn't there at all!
Well, maybe just a vague outline
But dimmed by the reflection's shine!
I see the room, I see the sea,
With almost perfect clarity!
But the painting? Spirited away!
I'll have to go back another day!
*

5 comments:

Margaret Gosden said...

Duly noted!

Anonymous said...

Nicely created ~~

vivinfrance said...

Your fluency never ceases to amaze me. I like your take on genetics!

Anonymous said...

I loved both these poems, but am particularly in awe of the family tree one! Love the rhymes and the story in that one!

Mike Patrick said...

Ouch! Okay, the females deserve equal billing. It takes two genders to create a branch--so far. If that ever changes, we will have some skinny trees.