En Passant

       

 

       

Giants

(Eden)                     The serpent once was a dragon.

 

 

They emerged east about the same time;
one on savanna, a thin one on berm.
To bolster my vantage I started to climb.
(And me, a lowly worm.)

 

From my pear tree’s crown I perched
like an Olympian god peering through pliant mist.
Bestride a broad branch that looked aged, I researched
(though I’m no scientist).

 

The first thing I noted was forms:
The giants hadn’t mimicked mine.
They naturally wore them like innocent worms.
(A chill squirmed up my spine.)

 

As still as a memory they stood.
They seemed one before a reflecting pool.
The berm giant found the robust one good.
(I found them sensational.)

 

The language they drew was unique.
The tongue I deciphered after a while.
I gathered my mental notes there on the peak
(and smiled a sinuous smile).

 

To intimately grasp the pair,
I scrambled away from my watchtower spire
and inched my way up by the berm through the air
(hoping to gain some plane higher).

 

I got to within a few feet--
as invisible to them as a dream--
and landed just as they began to retreat.
(My timing was supreme.)

 

I followed them into a glen;
distantly, like a repentant apostle.
I watched the plains giant stroke the hairs of the thin
(with a convenient fossil).

 

Naive and naked, they played;
and, since this preceded the advent of science,
fun was the only voice giants obeyed
(and these were the only two giants).

 

In my belly I felt something sprout,
like a Polaroid picture developing still.
It colored and surged, squirming to break out
(It’s a wonder I didn’t turn ill.)

 

Like Blake’s untold anger it grew.
It quickly shed green, then seasoned its sheen.
In a camera flash instant I knew:
I’d worm my way into the scene.

 

So I silkily smothered their bliss.
Like two hole-less doughnuts, they looked curious.
I called, “Little Daughter” in a long-throated hiss.
It was time to get serious.

 

I introduced soul and routine.
Poof!  Doughnuts had holes and giants were man.
I entered lore and the local cuisine
and hatched my modest plan.

 

     ****jb****

 

 

 

Bullets