mud boy

when I see you
I double take
you miniature man
resembling the only one
I ever loved
grand canyons deep

in my soft red earth
chamisa and cactus
spotted desert depths
in eight short months
you formed
little mud boy

the greatest diviner
tapped early
into your source
you sprang to my surface
slowly at first then a geyser
gushing and gliding
new life of immense force

with ease you gurgled stories
from where you'd come
with your chubby tree limbs you learned
to crawl then after many spills and falls
balancing on shaky new legs you got up and walked

soon bird coos became words and
in the black whirlpools of your little eyes
I remembered how to love myself again


(c) 1987

photo: Lisa Moon