Reasoning Song

by James Grabill

Since we came to the planet
for wild torches and night
crawlers that could reach
mystically from their tunnels
to find each other, we were soon
glad to see soft black ground
mushrooms made from primal
rock. We arrived from various
far-off systems of suns in starlit
sky charted on periodic tables,
and learned to speak using words
by hearing the light in voices.
We’ve always seen ourselves
in what was living with its eyes
looking. As kids, squealing, taken
over by some joy, our bellies half
filled perhaps from apple, when
we’d squat to revel in raw sound
transmitted by breathing cells
of ours that, growing us into
shape, would let us grin or cry
from inside out into mother air.

Published on June 7, 2010