Not just the physical self. The connection between—

hands, consciousness, hair, eye color, body shapes.

The child behaves or reacts,

a person likes or dislikes: an inherited trait.

Some people need the ride.

~

On a bench at the Chicago library, I was struck by

the way they held their heads. Their faces both wore

their gestures. So taken by them,

I asked if they laughed. I asked if I could take—

nearly in unison, I would have asked to take their hands.

~

Far more than we think, far more than we suspect—

we never really know someone else.

The living and dead will show up in our hands.

~

Thus, we breathe our first breath. A single marking. A story.

There is not a lone gene: interaction determines life.

~

We can inherit a morning or an evening.

We often become more aware, prone to illness or receding, as we age.

The chosen is wishful thinking. A woman may have liked more.