today i lifted the rock
where as a child
i always found a menagerie
hapless creatures
slugs pillbugs spiders worms
damp in the shade between
their stone sky
and wet earth beneath
their many feet and raw bellies
only dry dust coated
the bottom of the stone
no damp earth, but a hole
carved through the earth
and in it
the sky on the other side
of the world
as if someone had placed
a mirror beneath the rock
but the sky below
held stars other than sun
and placing my hand through
the small opening
i felt ocean spray
on my palm
and no distance between here
and there
Words and Feathers 