Eugene
He says his name is Gene Pool,
right away I know he is probably American,
there are few to no males
called Gene elsewhere.
Yes I recognize him instantly.
My friends could have all recognized him.
Dogs with their wet noses attuned to the moistness
of blood, sweat and tears would affirmed him.
On main street the sleepy eyed or hopped-up
working-girls nod at him
with the same unconscious neck springs
as the frog in my garden pond,
or the half-submerged toads in their slippery swamps
or –
well almost all we brain-fed
air-breathing, genetically sculptured life-forms.
A silver-backed gorilla peers out of its jungle nest
grunts in recognition,
as another Gene Pool, spear in hand,
slips through the leafy smudge of the jungle.
My thoughts return to the man in front of me;
strangely enough, he resembles me not.
I shake his hand, it seems
the only correct response,
he smiles weakly -
says:
I’m sorry sir, do I know you?
~~~~~~~~~~~
“Scientists have traced the evolution of the four-chambered human heart to a common genetic factor linked to the development of hearts in turtles and other reptiles. The research shows how a specific protein that turns on genes is involved in heart formation in turtles, lizards and humans.” - Gladstone Institute.
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