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On the Eve of Diabetes
by Angela CottermanA man's hereditary failures
logs my bodily fluids,
marking me as a daughter
of so many diseases before me.
The difficulty of forgiving
death grows to anger, fear,
an underlying need to understand
everywhere my mitochondrial dna
has been before my parents
laid together and conceived
me, their vessel of a bottle
tossed into this pool
of laughter and anguish
with hopes that I'd forgive
the strange familiar structure
of our born and dying tree.
01/26/2007 Posted on 01/26/2007
Copyright © 2024 Angela Cotterman
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Angela Nuzzo on 01/27/07 at 06:28 AM Oh my God, Angela! This is brilliant! There are medical problems down through my family also and I know those who suffer from them have felt exactly the same as this poem states. Well done. |
| Posted by Katerina T Nix on 01/28/07 at 08:51 PM Great read, Angela! I really enjoyed this piece. I especially love those last three lines. Well done -Kat :) |
| Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 02/11/07 at 04:51 PM This is a great read. Certainly makes me wonder what I am passing on to the future. |
| Posted by Kyle Anne Kish on 02/11/07 at 05:40 PM I can most certainly relate to this poem, Angela. It reminds me we are born and dying from day one, whether we know it or not. Beautifully written. ... and congratulations on your POTD. |
| Posted by Michelle Angelini on 02/12/07 at 04:55 AM Angela, congratulations on POTD. Yes, I can relate to this one, because it's the reason I have to stay away from all the things I'd really love to eat - my Mom was a diabetic. Danged DNA will get you everytime!
~Chelle~ |
| Posted by JD Clay on 02/12/07 at 05:39 AM Morose emotions run rampant in this genealogical piece, Angela. Reading the signposts along the way has obviously proven beneficial and your acknowledgement has resulted in an active muse if nothing else. Now you can add the honorable POTD gene to your helical strand. Best wishes! |
| Posted by Kathleen Wilson on 02/12/07 at 07:21 PM You've expressed in original constructions this dilemma of origins: "hereditary failure logs my bodily fluids" (that's a unique way of saying it!)"daugter of so many diseases..." (also original) also"their vessel of a bottle tossed". The title is telling and unuusual both, so in short order you have a strong and poetic synopsis of this (personal and universl) human predicament! |
| Posted by Rob Littler on 08/16/13 at 06:22 AM Diabetic as I am, this write has more to do with being thrust into a gene pool, forced into consciousness through propagation. I did not ask to be born, let alone to such a culture with its head in the sand regarding aging and eventual death. Tis, as others have said universal. My advice is to forgive everything. |
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