Dear Sir,

just twenty minutes ago
an example of all the evil in the world
some loser and blasphemer
tried to run me off redan road
but don’t worry
i told him how much you loved him
before i shot him
but don’t worry
i judged him not
lest i be judged
it probably helps
that i missed

jesus, i hope you don’t mind
a few questions
everyone says
you’re so wise and loving
everyone says
you know so much
so, ok, here’s a question:

amelia earhart and her navigator fred noonan
took off from new guinea
heading for howard island
and a brand new experience
and they were never heard from again
well the question is
don’t you think there should be
a better word for that besides “m i s s i n g”?
because so much of what we are
is just like that
exciting and sexy and possibly important
but you don’t know and might not ever
we take flight like Amelia earhart
and then we miss the mark or vanish
friends of mine have disappeared like that

but I guess you know all about
that kind of thing
three days in a hole in the ground
except you didn’t exactly take flight
I guess you kind of floated, right
Business class
Through clouds and thin air
And the vacuum of space
Straight to the pearly gates

but don’t worry, that’s not the question
– it’s just been on my mind lately
the question is
they discovered only a modest amount
of genetic variation
between people and a gypsy moth
we the people and they the gypsy moths
are about eighty or ninety per cent
exactly the same genetically
(we traded wings for longevity)

that information may seem quite disturbing
you can see where a person might lose
some faith in science
but jesus, me
and george bush and saddam hussein
are about 99.99 per cent identical genetically
to the holy trinity and Buddha and Hezekiah
a well kept secret
before the horrible ugly fact escaped the labs
so the question is
doesn’t that creep you out?
are you rolling in your metaphorical grave
or symbolic throne or gauzy shroud?
how can only one one-thousandth of a per cent
account for the difference between the lives
of you and me and her and him?
not to mention kim novak and kathy mozena

anyway, sometimes it all works out
that guy who tried to run me off the road
became a good friend
he, the guy, my friend, helped me write this epistle
then when i went to mail it
he shot me
but he missed
and therein lies the love
the pure genetic love
for you and Amelia and my friend
the pure wacky genetic code love
the tie that binds our souls,
99% identical souls
that scream for revenge
and howl with love
the balance hanging by a string

by the boy poets, hanging and stringing