Yesterday I found myself at the counter of the universal
fingerprint agency because to teach kids you need to get
fingerprinted –digitally nowadays –I asked the clerk
if she was familiar with the word adermatoglyphia
then proceeded to tell her about the rare genetic disorder
that causes a person to have no fingerprints only
four known families have this condition –isn’t that crazy?
I figured she’d be excited about it (this being her work
and all) but the conversation didn’t go far– funny
when I first heard that word I was terribly excited
not just because I harbor a fantasy of living a life
of espionage but I also love discovering new words–
she smiled as if amused or perhaps she was fantasizing
about whole cities of persons missing their fingerprints