Tree of Life

A foreign bird sang in a foreign accent too thick for anything but the sound of spitting: puh puhpuh puh puh. A new mouth had blossomed in my chest, round and wet with astonishment, & I wanted nothing more than to lie back in the sturdy arms of my captain & have a heart-to-heart talk with the sun. Where was I? What did I need this stick for, so far from any ground? I let it fall. I would be an epiphyte now — my fancy boots & spiked helmet already dangled well enough for roots. I let out the breath I’d been holding for so long, thinking its true owner would return to claim it. Above me in ragged ranks the whole village turned out again to wave & wave.