Sinéad Morrissey's poem, Genetics, gives us a wistful recollection of the poet as a celebration of the coming together of her parents.  The key line in the poem – repeated at the beginning and the end of the poem – is I know my parents made me by my hands (which appears in the plural as the final line of the poem).  From the poem we understand that her parents are no longer together – repelled to separate lands – but that she, the daughter, can celebrate their marriage by her existence. 

You can download the student worksheet and teacher’s notes below. You can also listen to the audio and read the transcript.

Audio (MP3): 

Genetics - audio

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