A sestina seems a peculiarly appropriate form to write about DNA, being the twisty ladder of poetic forms. However it’s not easy to control what comes out when I write a sestina. I wasn’t expecting a diatribe about the National Curriculum but here we are.
It’s really fascinating, DNA
The twisted molecules in every cell
Contain the code that tells you who to be
I find it unbelievable, the way
They take a tiny sample, and can tell
If it belongs to you or him or me!
It’s a confusing subject, though, to me
I must admit I never got an A
In science, but as far as I can tell
When scientists look closely at a cell
And peer into the nucleus the way
Old Crick and Watson did then that must be
Biology, it’s all that it can be!
But in the cell’s the code that makes me me
And code? That’s not biology, no way!
It’s more like mathematics, physics. Eh?
How come there’s coding deep inside each cell?
They say it’s in the chemicals but tell
Me: Shouldn’t that be chemistry? We tell
The kids at school that sciences should be
Three separate subjects, each in its own cell
But it’s becoming clearer now to me
You cannot think like that with DNA
It really makes me think about the way
The education system works. We weigh
And measure and find wanting and we tell
Each student that they have to get an A
As though there’s just a single way to be
Intelligent. It’s very strange to me
All our potential, written in each cell
Is measured so reductively. They sell
The sciences as separate? No way!
Just like each cell contains what makes me me,
Science is intersectional. I’ll tell
You how I think our lessons ought to be
Holistic, merged, just like our DNA
Each tiny cell contains a tale to tell
About the way the way we learn could be
It seems to me the clue’s in DNA
Tom Juniper Poetry 