Braided Hair

How many strands in braided hair?
One section pulled from the right
another from the left
and one from the middle all equal in size.

Then the process begins
over under, over under
till the full length is entwined
off-set with a pretty bow.

How many strands of other cultures
go into making this person?
Isleta Indian, Mexican and Spanish
Moors, all intertwined to make a face

that is like that of my ancestors
but different enough to be unique
yet when I look through a history book
I can see similar faces in different lands.

When I married I added another thread
or two, or three. He says he is German
Irish and English but from which strand
does the name, Uncle Telemachus, come?

According to the name registry
it is from Greek traditions.
Is it a random choice or a married
name with its own genetic history?

My children are a certain mixture
of six cultures in different
portions and when they married
and had their children

The mixture shifted again
but now they have a larger fraction
of English and Irish but which
culture claims their genetic mix?

Obama traveled across the ocean
to commensurate with his relatives
his Kenyan ancestry slipped to the background
when he raised a glass to his Irish heritage.

Like a mixture of the finest recipes
most people are a little bit of this and a lot of that
and like the braided hair we are all intertwined
why can't we hold it together, off-set with a pretty bow?