Hello my friends,
Apologies once again for my not getting this next poem out to you until now but yet again, another stay in my local district hospital beckoned last week which disrupted things a bit.
Anyway, I have my next poem for you which is called “The A, the C, the G, the T” and is all about raising public awareness about genomics medicine as represented by the chemotherapy which I was on for 6 months and the immunotherapy which I was on for 13 months before it got bored and starting attacking my nervous system. These drugs have helped to extend my life, to carry on working and be a husband and dad of which I am very grateful.
The title of this poem refers to the 4 chemical building blocks which make up the human genome (Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine and Thymine).
As you will have seen widely reported in the press recently, the 3.2 billion base pairs of human genome code are now being fully mapped out and there are moves to understand how the many different genetic processes work such as why cancer forms in certain organs / parts of the body. From this, the development of improved therapies and treatments to fight this many-headed monster are emerging and are making a real positive impact for some people.
I wrote this poem whilst hallucinating last summer when recovering from one of my cycles of chemotherapy treatment plus the heavy-duty steroids I had to take which really made me fly. I heard different voices chanting each of the A, C, G and T base pairs which help describe each part of our body and bodily processes. From this chant, I came up with the words of this poem.
I really hope that my poem helps and gives the hope that I wanted to impart that although the cancer journey is truly horrible, the promise of improved outcomes for some people through the use of genomics medicine and therapies like immunotherapy, can really make a difference.
Anyway, enough explanations, here is my poem:
The A, the C, the G, the T
This twisting swirl of human code
That bonds this script for every road
Our deepest gratitude is owed
To Watson, Crick, Franklin, and all those who went before
Biology’s brave, new frontier
Life’s mysteries slowly start to clear
Vaccines make tumours disappear
Machines save hearing of newborns
The A, the C, the G, the T,
The building blocks of you and me.
The A, the C, the G, the T,
Did someone mix them up for me.
A variation from the last,
To change my future from my past.
The A, the C, the G, the T,
Is it this code that plots our course?
Are we the stream and it the source?
What is effect and what is cause?
And dare we open and explore, every door?
The A, the C, the G, the T,
The building blocks of you and me.
The A, the C, the G, the T,
Did someone mix them up for me.
A variation from the last,
To change my future from my past.
The A, the C, the G, the T,
This mastery of my code
Helps change my story’s arc
Fights this cancer deep inside
Brings us hope to fill our hearts
The A, the C, the G, the T,
The A, the C, the G, the T,
The A, the C, the G, the T,
The A, the C, the G, the T.
The A, the C, the G, the T,
The A, the C, the G, the T.
The A, the C, the G, the T,
My innermost geometry.
And now we learn that this bit’s new,
This bit’s copied, this bit’s too few.
The A, the C, the G, the T,
The A, the C, the G, the T.
The A, the C, the G, the T,
So says each letter making me,
But do we lose so as we gain,
Some variations aren’t the same.
The A, the C, the G, the T,
The A, the C, the G, the T.
The A, the C, the G, the T,
This coastline’s rocks that make up me.
Half this code comes from this place,
The rest, it comes from outer space
The A, the C, the G, the T
The A, the C, the G, the T.
The A, the C, the G, the T
The A, the C, the G, the T,
Is this to be my destiny,
Am I the lock and it, the key.
The A, the C, the G, the T,
The A, the C, the G, the T
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I will try and get my next poem out to you by the start of the New Year pending no further impromptu stays in hospital. In the meantime, can I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Take care,
Twin Castor
