OK, I think readers would pick up the multitasking in the midst of boredom, but I'm not sure they would get to the metaphor of the bubbles in the tubes. Too much is automated today. I understand that the technical fallout from the human genome project has resulted in sequencers that would spit out bases probably faster than our poet could read. I think they will pick up on the expressed/unexpressed metaphor, whether we're dealing with junk sequences (introns vs. exons), feedback loops for gene regulation, or dominance and recessiveness as nu-be suggested. I thought from the start that iambic was all wrong. Definitely anapestic, or else dactylic, since the beginning and end of each codon are crucial. Is he in the mood for a dactylic waltz, or an anapestic cha-cha-CHA!?

First thought: The full moon definitely inspires visions of werewolves, but her anatomy is more reminiscent of "Species" a-la Natasha Henstridge. So, were-aliens?

I like the interwoven ideas of letters/information/words/rhythm/poetry. I picture in my mind a guy who is neither left nor right brain dominant here, the artistic-scientific type, in the middle of a couple of simultaneous projects. Are the clone of the title, the owner of the protein sequence being elaborated, and the young woman of the penultimate line one and the same? I lean toward prose, so I'm wondering if you could shed a little light here on what you were thinking. Aha! Light goes on. The silent E. And paragraph/stanza one refers to the protein sequence, while number three refers to the poem, with parallel ideas. The structure is making a little more sense, now.

"Adenine, guanine, thiamine, cystosine and sometimes uracil are amino acids... the protein sequencer reads the base pairs as the DNA unravels just as a cell would read those pairs constructing a protein." TJ, still gotta disagree with you. Adenine, Guanine, Thymine, and Cytosince, and yes, Uracil in RNA instead of T in DNA, are NOT amino acids. They are, as you next say, the bases in the base pairs. In transcription, mRNA codons formed of 3 bases are constructed from the matching triplet in DNA. The codons in the mRNA are read in the ribosomes during translation, along with the help of tRNA which brings the amino acid that corresponds to the codon/anticodon pair in question. The sequence of amino acids assembles into a protein.

Being technical here, but... "The protein sequencer ran the letters off on the monitor screen. Alone the amino acids meant nothing..." The letters would be nitrogenous bases, not the amino acids. "Some would be dominant andbe expressed..." Unclear. Neither proteins nor amino acids are expressed. It is genes that are expressed. "every time one of the sequences were added to the list..." Should be "one...was." Also, are sequences being added to the list, or individual letters as in the first sentence? "If A were to be expressed here then the E would have to be silent." I'm not sure what A and E are supposed to refer to. If nucleic acid bases, there is an A, but no E. I see the tie to musical notes, but the original E confuses me. Interesting plot thread going on here, but I'm not sure I can wrap my brain around it enough to understand it yet.

Thank you also for the joy. The memories are very evocative. I am glad you told us more about your son's death. I was wondering.

My son turns 3 in a couple of weeks. I can only imagine the pain. Thank you for sharing "Webmaker" with us.

I agree almost entirely with dialyn. It's a good idea. Even though I'm just starting the third decade, I balked at that same sentence dialyn did and read it a few times to check if I was misunderstanding. People can still make contributions even after they start "falling apart physically." I would think that would be especially true of writers. That said, after re-reading, I accepted the sentence as is as part of the somewhat jaded outlook of the narrator/bounty hunter. I thought the idea of calling the database Santa was a clever twist, and it becomes more ironic (as you say "sick") as the more sinister elements of the story become apparent. On the final re-read, your first sentence is excellent, though I completely missed the import first time around.

Nadine: Third in what contest? Very good for a first effort in English. I thought the ending from "And, once more..." is the strongest part, the most lyrical writing. You packed a lot into a short piece.

I read through all the honorable mentions last night. It was interesting to see how everyone handled those elements of the pic that we all noticed and wrestled with. The piece by frndofyaweh had a lot of interesting parallels with my own. Thanks for the reading material.

Congrats all. I'm looking forwarding to reading them all.

...ahhhhhhh In.... Out... :)

Okay, deep breath....

I assume we're all trying to be patient, but my calendar says October 28 and I can't find the results. Am I looking in the wrong place?

Score one more for Chuck Evans (#14). Simple, elegant, clear.

Crasher's takes a close second. The left side text background seems a bit too, hmmm ... crowded, cluttered?