We crawled out of her navelone by one, then waiteduntil we were all here.
That lucid moment whenthe last wet child learned to stand,we began walking.
We walked slowly.We took some time.We took more than that.
When we began to growhungry, some offered to turnthemselves into animals.
Smiling, they said, Here, eat me.Others turned into water, rivers, trees.Some turned themselves to dirt
so we could walk a path. We crepttoward the edges, clawed and crawled to the topof the world, and there we clung.
Instead of a mouth, a womanspoke through a vibrant yellowbill. Sometimes we visited the man
on the moon. Sometimes he let usinside his house. Sometimeshis transparent hollow wife would dance.
Later, when people asked us,Where did you come from?We could only answer water.
A whole…
