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DNA Diversity is one of my cultural identity poems, a reflection on national and cultural identity, xenophobia, multiculturalism, and racism.

DNA Diversity

I’m not the pure-bred I thought I was / I’m a mongrel. Paid top dollars for one of those DNA-ancestry tests and now have to swallow that I’m a cross between a Poodle and Dalmation, with deep traces of St. Bernard, Collie, Setter, and Greyhound.

My twenty-seventh cousin seven times removed was a champion sheep-dog, my great, great, great, great aunt pulled sleighs across the Central Siberian Plateau, my great, great, great, great, great uncle chased foxes across the Scottish Highlands, while my third cousin twice removed got dumped in a ditch in Alaska, and, not to mention my great, great, great, great grandmother the boldest Dingo dog ever.

This made me think twice about starting the habitual scrap with that dimwit half-bred next door this morning. I bet we’re related.

Cultural Identity Poems – DNA Diversity

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Anita Alig

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