This was a very detailed and pictorial poem. After I finished my vocabulary homework the colors came alive and I reminisced about biology. Great job Michael!
Ok Michael I have homework to do. I need to look up these vocabulary words to get a better understanding. Thank you for helping me to increase my vocabulary! Will be back to comment!
Something rare, something unique, made of pure amazement only to be seen with the eyes of someone else, not them, them who … might have been of low self-esteem or otherwise considering themselves boring.
I love this exploration. My geeky biology brain wants you to know that those "braids" that are inside your cells (telemeres are on the DNA-not proteins, but nucleic acids) are proteins called Microtubules. They have been shown in studies to conduct light! The fascial webs outside your cells also braid to encompass and connect all of those light conducting filled cells together. All within an ocean zipped up and portable for the microbes to make a home of you.
Thank you Dr Wallace, I guess that's why you're the doctor 😅 I've also heard doctors compare telomeres to the caps at the end of shoelaces, and I recall that DNA only exists in
eukaryotic cells, as opposed to eukaryotic cells. Don't asked me much beyond that, but it is a fascinating subject
Yes! 🙌 Telomeres are like little caps on the ends of chromosomes that keep the dna from degrading—hence we associate them with longevity.
We (animals) are eukaryotes and our cells have both our dna and our mitochondrial dna (passed down from our mothers) that is closer to bacteria (prokaryotic) than us. We are filled with bacteria too. Maybe more than our own cells in number. 👊
I love to learn and even more love the body and all its intricate awesomeness. Feel free to message me if you need any anatomy tips. Always happy to geek out with someone who actually thinks about this stuff.
Wow Mike! This took me a couple reads to get what I thought you were trying to get at. And I may be way off but I love the way you keep moving between the microscopic and the ancestral, from amino chains and telomeres to the migrations of whole peoples under changing skies. It feels like a reflection on how the body is not just a body, but an archive. Every freckle, pigment, follicle, and bone quietly carrying memory.
I love the phrase “braids in your braids.” It captures the recursive beauty of it, structure within structure, story within story. Even loss (like baldness) doesn’t erase the pattern; it simply reveals how deeply the pattern runs.
The poem seems to say that identity is not something we invent in isolation. It is woven molecularly, historically, geographically. The self becomes a living braid of chemistry, climate, and lineage.
There’s something almost humbling in that thought: that our bodies are not just ours, but the visible continuation of countless invisible journeys.
That's it, Dipti. Thank you for your insight as always. It started with the notion that the double helix is braided, but the notion of intertwining went beyond science, whether that's the human story or even fate being tied into your ancestral journey, a la the Sinti and Roma, permanent wanderers somehow woven into their DNA. I'm glad you're always around to read more than a surface understanding
Mike, I love hearing where it began for you. The double helix as the first braid makes perfect sense; it’s such a quiet but powerful image of life already intertwined before we ever add culture, memory, or story to it.
And the way you extend that into peoples and journeys, like the Sinti and Roma, gives the metaphor a real human gravity. Suddenly the braid isn’t just molecular elegance anymore; it becomes movement through landscapes, languages, histories—threads crossing centuries without ever fully separating.
What I find beautiful in your piece is that it doesn’t treat ancestry like a static inheritance. It feels more like a current we’re still moving inside of. We think of ourselves as individuals standing in the present, but in truth we’re more like a point where many long strands briefly meet.
So the braid keeps braiding. Through us, and beyond us.
And thank you for saying that. I think what keeps me coming back to your work is exactly that quality, it always invites the reader to look a little deeper than the surface image. Those are the kinds of poems that keep unfolding long after the first read.
Strong images, beautiful feel!
Thank you Mike
I love this Mike. I LOVE the imagery and style. It feels like it has grit, yet beauty. Amazing work, man!
Thank you very much Chris!
Brilliant use of language. It read like you swallowed a dictionary.
Lol thank you Maria
A Rasta person would tell me… “you even have board headed dredds” though they cut their hair, you are still connected. ✍️👏👏👏👏
This was a very detailed and pictorial poem. After I finished my vocabulary homework the colors came alive and I reminisced about biology. Great job Michael!
Thank you Pamela. I'm sorry to make you do homework, but the words were too beautiful to squander, by merely saying brown, or freckles
Bravo sir
Thank you Daggs
What an awesome poem, both in substance and execution. Your command of words is daunting!
Thank you so much Alicia!
Such rich movement of imagery, a little like taking us on our own plaited journey as we read 🙏🏼
Thank you Ana, glad you enjoyed the trip
Ok Michael I have homework to do. I need to look up these vocabulary words to get a better understanding. Thank you for helping me to increase my vocabulary! Will be back to comment!
Lol thank you Pamela
I really enjoyed this. Really potent and powerful imagery. Great work.
This is gorgeous. So musical and powerful.
Thank you Jacqueline
Something rare, something unique, made of pure amazement only to be seen with the eyes of someone else, not them, them who … might have been of low self-esteem or otherwise considering themselves boring.
Thank you Daniela
🫶🏿👏
Thank you V S
I love this exploration. My geeky biology brain wants you to know that those "braids" that are inside your cells (telemeres are on the DNA-not proteins, but nucleic acids) are proteins called Microtubules. They have been shown in studies to conduct light! The fascial webs outside your cells also braid to encompass and connect all of those light conducting filled cells together. All within an ocean zipped up and portable for the microbes to make a home of you.
Thank you Dr Wallace, I guess that's why you're the doctor 😅 I've also heard doctors compare telomeres to the caps at the end of shoelaces, and I recall that DNA only exists in
eukaryotic cells, as opposed to eukaryotic cells. Don't asked me much beyond that, but it is a fascinating subject
Yes! 🙌 Telomeres are like little caps on the ends of chromosomes that keep the dna from degrading—hence we associate them with longevity.
We (animals) are eukaryotes and our cells have both our dna and our mitochondrial dna (passed down from our mothers) that is closer to bacteria (prokaryotic) than us. We are filled with bacteria too. Maybe more than our own cells in number. 👊
I love to learn and even more love the body and all its intricate awesomeness. Feel free to message me if you need any anatomy tips. Always happy to geek out with someone who actually thinks about this stuff.
Just absolutely perfect, Mike. I loved this. I bet, if I look close enough, and squint reeaaaaallllyyyy hard, I could see my braids, too!
Lol thank you Ira
Wow Mike! This took me a couple reads to get what I thought you were trying to get at. And I may be way off but I love the way you keep moving between the microscopic and the ancestral, from amino chains and telomeres to the migrations of whole peoples under changing skies. It feels like a reflection on how the body is not just a body, but an archive. Every freckle, pigment, follicle, and bone quietly carrying memory.
I love the phrase “braids in your braids.” It captures the recursive beauty of it, structure within structure, story within story. Even loss (like baldness) doesn’t erase the pattern; it simply reveals how deeply the pattern runs.
The poem seems to say that identity is not something we invent in isolation. It is woven molecularly, historically, geographically. The self becomes a living braid of chemistry, climate, and lineage.
There’s something almost humbling in that thought: that our bodies are not just ours, but the visible continuation of countless invisible journeys.
That's it, Dipti. Thank you for your insight as always. It started with the notion that the double helix is braided, but the notion of intertwining went beyond science, whether that's the human story or even fate being tied into your ancestral journey, a la the Sinti and Roma, permanent wanderers somehow woven into their DNA. I'm glad you're always around to read more than a surface understanding
Mike, I love hearing where it began for you. The double helix as the first braid makes perfect sense; it’s such a quiet but powerful image of life already intertwined before we ever add culture, memory, or story to it.
And the way you extend that into peoples and journeys, like the Sinti and Roma, gives the metaphor a real human gravity. Suddenly the braid isn’t just molecular elegance anymore; it becomes movement through landscapes, languages, histories—threads crossing centuries without ever fully separating.
What I find beautiful in your piece is that it doesn’t treat ancestry like a static inheritance. It feels more like a current we’re still moving inside of. We think of ourselves as individuals standing in the present, but in truth we’re more like a point where many long strands briefly meet.
So the braid keeps braiding. Through us, and beyond us.
And thank you for saying that. I think what keeps me coming back to your work is exactly that quality, it always invites the reader to look a little deeper than the surface image. Those are the kinds of poems that keep unfolding long after the first read.