Originally published in Planet Magazine No. 38 (June 2003).
Greetings,
This is Juki 3.14159
(But you can call me Juki Pi),
I want to make your world like Jukian Prime;
And let me tell you why.
The moment Juki 4.2 emerged full-grown
From Clone-Tank 63,
I loved him dearly as my own,
As when properly programmed, he would be me.
And when it came time for him to eat his mother,
(A special time in anybody’s life),
I laughed loud when he asked me for another,
I had no plans as yet for a future wife
(Besides, she’d be allocated to his future brother).
Sunset on Jukian Prime? No less than simply grand,
The way the evening X-rays play across the arsenic sand,
Through aromatic ammonia marshes we could hike,
Or you and 4.2 could snare a simby, if you’d like.
So you see now how your planet’s got it wrong,
We’ll let you test-drive the new Earth for an eon,
(We sure don’t want to inconvenience you too long),
For free, we’ll even add an atmosphere of radon.
Greetings, from a better world than yours.
Poem © 2003 by William Shumay
Illustration © 2003 by Emily M. Hanson
