ZT

It’s a triple bond—
If AT’s double
Were an equal sign,

ZT would signal
An identity,
If and only if.

Known so far from
Bacteriophage
Viruses only,

It’s the most basic
Rewiring of life
On Earth discovered,

A substitute base,
Deeply weird weapon
In the endless fight

Between the phages
And their many hosts.
Think for a moment—

Angels and monsters
Alike, if you like,
Have their nearest kin

In this unbroken,
Invisible war
To control the shapes

And the resources
Life takes to make lives.
The analogy

Isn’t fanciful—
The war at the top
Of the pyramid

Mirrors the struggle
Evolving the base.
Ideas have bases,

But young as we are,
Our phrases exchange
Facultatively,

And when you claim gods,
Demons, messengers,
And angelic hosts,

You are hosts of hosts,
And you spin like toys
Twirled on strings between

The invisibles—
Helixes one end,
Concepts the other.