by Sean Edgley

my genes are taken in blood samples. my genes look like
Dippin Dots but taste like genes. my genes think about
taking acid. my genes are called into question. my genes
need therapy. my genes have been handled by small children in
Vietnam. i don’t listen to them for a year. my genes rebel
against me and plan my demise.

my genes appear to be a formless mass. my genes remember.
my genes didn’t prepare me for that C++ course. my genes know
the catsup story. my genes get shredded at the Chinese
laundromat. they aren’t wanted at Buffalo Exchange. my genes
show my volition their black belt. if my genes could speak they
would have the voice of Peter Lorre.

my genes fist bump Crick and Watson. my genes are waiting for
a patent. my genes prefer pockets in the back. back in the day
my genes were baggier. my genes deny ever dancing to that song.
my genes looked good in that picture. my genes are tricked by her
perfume. my genes know it’s not entirely accurate to call it dry
humping. the morning after my genes are crumpled on the floor.

my genes are modeled and helix up a base. my genes are on
the fence about the pole dancing class. my genes want to get
with her genes. her words tell me no. my genes seek consolation.
my genes prefer thinking about smoking than actual smoking. my
genes will pass no genetic traits. in the bathroom dream my genes
have no fly. in the life dream my genes don’t come off.

my genes reveal too much. my genes get ditched for corduroy.
my genes look sad with no hip. my genes are the shallow pool
at adult swim. there are too many floaties. my genes are paleolithic
or older. my genes can’t quit you. my genes wake me up at night
to debate the value of personal experience. my genes have
existed a long time to end with me.

Sean Edgley is a Bay Area native finishing his MFA in Creative Writing at the City College of New York this winter. He has worked and traveled extensively in Europe and Asia and his experiences abroad inform much of his (poetic) worldview. He teaches in Midtown Manhattan and has been recently published in HTMLGIANT, Literary Bohemian, and Scapegoat Review.