Y-Chromosome

National Geographic studied

My DNA.

They traced my ancestors back

50,000 years to the Rift Valley in
Northeast Africa.
Withdrawing from the Ice Age.
Stone tools and early art.

My Y-chromosome then migrated north

Through the Middle East

And into southern Europe.

I’m in North America and

Not feeling my roots at all.

I suppose we’re all from Africa if you

Go back far enough.

But I can barely remember what I

Ate for breakfast two days ago

Or why I let my ego get out control yesterday.

Africa thousands of years ago seems distant and

Meaningless.
I can't feel it.

But the girl who stuffed me in her closet when I was 12,

That I remember.

That I’d like to change.

I wish I had been brave enough to ask her to

Explore my Y-chromosome.

That would have resonated more

Than a dusty patch somewhere in a distant continent.

© Poem Fix http://www.poemfix.com 2012

Illustration by Archaeogenetics