A child inherits features from its Ma
and Pa—appearance, weakness, talents, voice,
a plethora of details—not by choice,
but by the writing of genetic law.
Gametocytes contain a written text
which, sequenced in a 3-D alphabet,
describes the parents’ features. It’s reset,
and mixed, and carried to the next,
passing down the line a usable description. 
Data heritance, the basis of relation,
stems directly from the act of gene transcription;
parentage is DNA communication,
sending cell-to-cell a physical inscription. 
Reproduction copies written information.

—David Jackson Lohnes
2022

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Notes:

This sonnet extends an argument that is begun “First Premise.” The form of this poem is explicitly matched to that in almost every detail. I would have liked to achieve an ABBAABBA rhyme scheme in the octave, but the need to convey some complicated biological concepts concisely and clearly in a single quatrain, combined with the desire to prominently feature the word “text” led me to compromise with myself (something I hate doing when writing sonnets. I want to solve the puzzle!)