Xenogenesis

by Dina Pfeffer

And here I am on the stark page

Serif font aglow in blacklight

And here I am as the clock face winks

The minute hand past twelve again

And here I am tracing a finger

From aleph to omega, your chin to your heel

And here I am led by the sound of your voice

To the river at sunrise, we crouch in the reeds

And here we are by the ancient desert dune

Our palms lying open and asking

We draw maps down the lines of each other’s hands

Like facts lost in the front matter

Like expecting mothers, like pirates

Let us dance upon this great expanse of parchment

And smudge the ink with our toes