Essay Questions

Why might Roberts have decided to metaphorically represents the geneticist as a driver, moving through an uncharted desert in “Mapping the Genome”?

In this poem, Roberts credits the unending and complicated work of the geneticists who are dedicated to mapping the human genome. It is likely that Roberts chose to represent these geneticists as cartographers who are driving through an uncharted desert because the human genome is much like a desert that has not yet been explored or mapped. Much of the human genome is filler—it does not provide specific information about humans or our evolutionary history. In this way, it is much like a desert, which is a vast, open space that does not contain much. Similarly, the human genome is a long tangle of genetic code and geneticist must follow it, much like a driver would follow a winding road. In short, it is likely that Roberts noticed the many similarities between an unexplored desert and the unexplored human genome and decided to share this metaphorical understanding with his readers.

Why does Roberts refer to midnight on New Year’s Eve as a “fracture across time and space?”

In this poem, Roberts imagines that, during the brief minute or moments during which the world transitions from one year to a next, the entirety of the universe is frozen in time. He suggests that this brief moment of peace and pause is a “fracture across time and space” because, in his mind, it is a strange moment where all of humanity is thrust forward, into an entirely new age. Given that New Year’s Eve is celebrated at different times across the world, all of humanity experiences this transitionary moment at different times, which fractures our accepted notions of time and space. Therefore, midnight on New Year’s Eve is a strange moment, for it is celebrated at different times by all of humanity, and it is also a transitionary period, where everyone in Earth is thrust forward into a new year and era.

Explore the meaning behind the title, “Nativity Scene in Bullet-Time.”

In this poem, during which the narrator imagines that, when the clock strikes twelve on New Year’s Eve, all of humanity stands frozen in time for the briefest of moments—waiting in limbo between the new and old years. The word nativity has its roots in the word “natal,” which means birth or infancy. As such, the nativity scene that the narrator describes in this poem is the birth of a new year, and all those around him who are a part of this birth. The narrator, who is attending a New Year’s Eve party with his significant other therefore refers to the party as a nativity scene because all of his fellow partygoers are a part of a scene of the birth of the new year. Roberts’ reference to “bullet-time” can be explained by the fact that, in order to see a bullet whizzing through the air, you would need to slow time exponentially, which is what the narrator does in his mind during this scene.