#NaPoWriMo 2016 Day Twelve

Today’s challenge was to write my own index poem. They suggested starting with found language from an actual index or inventing an index. I chose to use random words from a random book on the shelf, “Altered Genes, Twisted Truth” by Steven M. Drucker. I feel the poem keeps in the spirit of the book and gives a synopsis for those who haven’t read it. It was interesting how the poem just fell together after I chose the words from the index. Surprising how I ended up enjoying this prompt more than I thought I would.  

altered genes, twisted truth

the agent orange of
agroecological methods–
some alfalfa alleles and beans.
bees that land on bent grass,
birds with birth defects
praying buddhist meditations
over the cauliflower.
a compiler of cotton and cows,
the domestication of ecology
and environment leads to
the faith-based fruit of pure gall–
genomes grafting into hazardous herbicide.
a world gone mad
with the insertion of jumping genes,
a labeling of livestock with markers
published in the media with monsanto.
peas with protein,
the randomness of rennet alternatives
and the rice of salt and soil:
all sources sustainable
without toxicity or tumors or virus.
we discover the twisted truth
after the fact–
whistleblowers be praised.