Illustration: “Huh” © 2005 by Romeo Esparrago.
Professor Anderson relentlessly scanned the skies
Searching tirelessly for that elusive prize
Of a signal with subtle hints of intelligence
Plucked from the universe’s chaotic cadence
With the aid of a waning SETI stipend
Anderson poured over bits and bytes without end
But one day from Arecibo’s exalted telescope
He discovered a curious sample that inspired hope
He scoured the raw data for an encoded prime
For a genetic sequence, for something sublime
Yet the signal failed to match anything known
Perhaps its significance was overblown?
The professor gave up and grabbed a snack
But when he returned he was taken aback –
The correlation engine announced in its stoic style
That the signal was actually an audio file
He downloaded the track to his iPod hastily
And was soon grooving to the chords of “Louie Louie”
He grinned as he gazed up at that distant sector
And toasted their alien supernova fraternity kegger *
About the Author: Don Mowbray is a well-intentioned writer who attempts to pepper his prose and poetry with tidbits of humor but invariably ends up macing his readers with artificial alliterations, painful puns, and nauseating non sequiturs. He has sacrificed much for his art — good taste and decency being the primary casualties. Rubberneckers can gawk at his literary fender-benders at the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, AnotheRealm, SciFaiKuest, BBspot, and AntipodeanSF.
(c) 2005 Don Mowbray EigenValium@whitewashedweb.com
Web site: www.whitewashedweb.com
About the Artist: Romeo Esparrago is a transhuman illustration machine.
(c) 2005 Romeo Esparrago http://www.romedome.com
