Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Naomi Shihab Nye’s "Genetics" is a meditation on inheritance, not just in the biological sense but in the subtler ways personality, habits, and ways of seeing the world are passed down through generations. The poem delicately balances nostalgia, humor, and self-awareness, creating a personal yet universally resonant reflection on familial traits and their enduring presence in daily life. Through a simple but evocative structure, Nye explores the idiosyncrasies of both parents and how they manifest in her own being, shaping the way she moves through the world.

The poem is divided into two sections, each dedicated to one parent. The first begins with the speaker acknowledging what she has inherited from her father—“the ability / to stand in a field and stare.” The simplicity of this statement belies a deeper philosophical quality. Her father’s appreciation of stillness, of observing rather than interfering, becomes an inherited trait. The mention of a donkey—“Look, look at that gray dot by the fence. / It’s his donkey.”—at first appears literal, but the speaker quickly clarifies that her father’s interest in donkeys is “more a figurative one.” This small moment encapsulates his—and by extension, her—way of thinking: not necessarily invested in ownership or possession, but in the quiet satisfaction of knowing something is simply there. “To know it’s out there nuzzling the ground. / That’s how I feel about my life.” This metaphor expands her father’s worldview into her own. Just as he appreciates the donkey’s presence without feeling the need to engage with it, she too seems content to “skirt the edges” of life, observing, absorbing, and appreciating from a distance. This is an inheritance not of material wealth but of perspective, a way of being that values contemplation over control.

The second section shifts to the speaker’s mother, introducing a sharper, more detail-oriented inheritance. “From my mother, an obsession about the stove / and correct spelling.” The specificity of these two seemingly unrelated traits hints at a personality deeply concerned with order, precision, and consistency. The red stove becomes a symbol of maternal diligence—“must be / polished at all times.” The speaker confesses, “You don’t know this about me. / I do it when you’re not home.” This admission reveals how deeply ingrained her mother’s influence is, even when unacknowledged or unobserved. It also adds a layer of tenderness—she may not openly embrace these habits, but they have become a part of her nonetheless.

There is humor in the description of the “Magic Chef” stove, which “gleams in his tipped hat.” Yet the humor turns into mild exasperation as she describes its erratic behavior—“Oven shoots to 500 when you set it low. / Then fluctuates. Like a personality.” The stove, much like her mother, is unpredictable, requiring constant monitoring and adaptation. The speaker’s solution—an “oven thermometer”—is another example of how inherited tendencies evolve over time. She has learned to live with imperfection, yet the obsessive checking mirrors her mother’s meticulousness.

The poem then shifts to another maternal trait: an insistence on correct spelling. The speaker draws a contrast—“My mother does crosswords, which I will never do.”—but follows with an acknowledgment that incorrect spelling “prickles my skin.” This interplay of rejection and embrace is central to the poem’s meditation on inheritance. While she resists certain habits, they nonetheless shape her consciousness. The act of correcting, of “returning to the beginning with pencil, black ink” becomes symbolic of a compulsive need to refine and perfect, a trait handed down from mother to daughter.

A small but telling family anecdote appears toward the end, where they “had family discussions / about a preference for the British grey.” This trivial but deliberate consideration of language reveals how much weight words carry in their household. Even a choice between “gray” and “grey” becomes a matter of importance, reflecting a shared reverence for language’s nuances.

The poem closes with a memory of a spelling bee, where the speaker “tripped on reveille, / a bugle call, a signal at dawn.” This moment is poignant—not only does reveille symbolize awakening, but it also carries an unintended consequence. Because of this early failure, the speaker has been “rising early / ever since.” The humor is gentle but laced with irony. A single mistake, a misstep in youth, has shaped a lifelong habit. The way the speaker phrases it suggests both an acceptance of fate and an acknowledgment of how small moments, like genetic traits, carry lasting effects.

"Genetics" is a poem about the ways in which we are shaped by the people who raised us, how habits and quirks pass through generations, sometimes unnoticed until we catch ourselves replicating them. Nye presents this inheritance not as something fixed but as something lived, evolving and adapting over time. The father’s contemplative distance, the mother’s precision and quiet rituals—each informs the speaker’s way of navigating the world. The poem’s beauty lies in its subtle humor, its affectionate tone, and its understanding that even the most mundane inheritances—staring at a field, polishing a stove, correcting a misspelled word—are evidence of enduring connection.

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