Original Poetry Reflection: So, Your Kid's a Mutant

"So, Your Kid's a Mutant" is a poem written in mixed meter about a dear friend's child named Wren who suffered from a seizure disorder in the first four months of her life Her condition is rare and took doctor's a long time to figure out. Those four months were despairingly stressful, for the baby, for her parents and for the people trying to support the family through this difficult time. At the four month mark, as promised, Wren's seizures subsided and she was allowed to come out of her medical testing, out of her helmet and safety gear, and the family could work on getting a good night's sleep for the first time since her birth. That's when I wrote this poem. I'm pretty proud of it, though I realize that it has a lot of technical weaknesses. The meter isn't strict, and variation that occurs often comes because I was unable to figure out another word or phrasing to make it work more regularly rather than for a masterful orchestration of emphasis. The subject matter had some inherent challenges-- "mutant" is a trochee and therefore works counter to the more typical and more comfortable iambic meter. Wren's condition was caused by a mutation on the twentieth chromosome. While I felt that I was able, thematically, to handle the mutation idea, the words "mutation," "twentieth," and "chromosome" are all pretty awkward in terms of meter. The beginning of the word "mutation" is slow and takes effort, like squeezing peanut butter through a straw. It doesn't dance. "Twentieth chromosome" together makes 5 syllables and is composed of two dactyls in a row. Dactylic meter is rare and I found it unnatural to work with. Likewise, when I flipped the idea of mutancy from something belonging to unsavory aliens to something that superheros suggest, I was again faced with the awkward rhythms of superhero names-- Superman and Green Lantern were the ones that seemed to fit the most naturally and were both heroes with superhuman or mutant strength (unlike Batman.... that just wouldn't work with the theme). Even with these challenges, the goal was to be playful and conversational, a joyful end to a painful period in this sweet baby's life. Overall, I have a poem that I was able to make a gift to my friend, written in mostly iambic or anapestic hexameter (with some pentameter), and that I think has a consistency of sound and rhythm.

#originalpoetry