The Science of Romance

done for the 'scientific poetry' contest

The Science of Romance

 

the strands of my double helix

wrap around your histone heart

coding for this genetic,

magnetic attraction between us,

dense as chromatin stuffed into

tiny, porous nuclei.

 

we once lay together on our

metaphase bed,

but anaphase came between us,

my arms forever reaching out to you

my replicate, your beloved four letters

(A, T, G, C not L, O, V, E)

taken from me.

we are identical, perfected by

evolution and exonuclease activity.

 

i now sit silently methylated until

called upon by the transcription

factors of your empirical ivy-eyed stare,

that scientific arch of your eyebrow.

 

like rumpelstiltskin's straw gold,

mRNA is spun out in chaotic streams,

single-stranded and awkward,

bereft of its partner --

until translation date night

when ribosomes hit the scene.

they pair up,

a couple almost as cute as us,

getting right down to business,

those tRNAs pesky wingmen,

jumping in and out of the conversation.

 

but then -- at last -- a miracle!

creation in protein,

precious as a newborn's first cry,

brought unto this world by

chaperones, those smiling nurses

of the cell, who delicately mold it

into oxytocin, dopamine, and adrenaline,

the hormones of my love.  

 

Author's Note

playing kind of fast and loose with the science here, but who really cares for the specifics anyway? ;)

if you were curious, the picture up top there shows a cell during anaphase, the replicated chromosomes being pulled apart into two separately forming daughter cells... i thought it was pretty to look at. :)

Reviews

[faryn wolff]

I wish I had a better grasp on science for some of the things mentioned, but I enjoyed this nonetheless. It was a delightful read. I adore your scientific approach to love. Very clever piece. Thanks for writing!

[Travis Lawrence]

Thanks for the reviews! I appreciate them.

Really cool metaphor here, and even if you think the science is fast and loose, it sounds like it's correct anyway! Nice alliteration with "histone heart" in the second line. Cool stuff!

[Sunflower/Sara Kendrick]

Great write...Since I am not a scientist, I am lacking in understanding....I do know that they say from a scientific approach that there is a chemical interaction that comes when we meet someone who draws us...Great idea and presentation...I will look at the enlarged picture...I have a grandson who lives with me who has an abnormal DNA....He has Huntington's Disease...It is an abnormality on the CAG of his DNA...actually the G part is effected...He has too many repeats...They think that he has enough protein but like one form of diabetes where the glucose can't enter the cell ...They think that the lock that lets the protein into the cell doesnt' work..It causes destruction of brain cells at a faster rate than normal...It is very horrible illness..Sara

[Annette Jay Sweeney]

This is such a cool poem! I really enjoyed it. I have taken a few biology classes, so I was able to follow along pretty well. What an interesting read. Your images bring this poem together very strongly.

[Chuck]

this is so clever! i doubt i would have had the patience to do this, Good Job! I love it!

[mope]

The process of creating daughter cells surely does involve being pulled apart.

Any comments I'd want to make on the science or romance could easily be interchanged - plausible, bewildering, enchanting, tongue-tieing, and the many apt descriptions you make.

[Fabian G. Franklin]

I like science... but not near as much as sexy women. lol I don't care what chemicals are in it or how good it is for me...give me chocolate or give me death! lol

[Devons]

The appliance of science! I think I could have just read the last verse and been impressed! The last verse is clear, tender and crisply intelligent. On that alone, I praise this poem highly.
As for the preceding baloney of bafflement, as you can tell, she blinded me with science!!!
...Too many scientific and inevitably unpoetic technical words that escape me... And too many I would have to look up..!
If I take your word on it for their relevance then I would have to say: Very Clever!!

[Antonio Valentino]

Most would think that breaking down something like love into a science would pretty much, kill the mood, if you will. But Sara, you so handled this in a very methodical and artistic way. This was both veracious, and voracious, explicit, and illicit, judicious, and delicious, full of just, and lust.

This was as peachy as a petri dish, great work!

Antonio

[Coyote Poetry]

Wow. The poem is amazing. I still believe love cannot be pin down to science yet. In my lifetime the woman who powerful and smart. Lived to do great things made me crazy and want to know them. Woman came to me with love in their eyes. I would ask them why me? I like the format and the logic of this poem. Love is one mystery we won't ever understand. Poem is outstanding.
Coyote