Clade Song 16

The Turtle

It's as if it displaces space itself
as it paddles the ground
it doesn't seem to move at all
or rather
it's the earth that seems to shift and age —
its carapace a tectonic plate.
Slowness is of the essence —
it lags behind everything
it's at all possible to lag behind
and retreats inside its shell
for whiles that outlast the comings
and goings of more ambitious species.
The dome of its shell is its earth
and celestial sphere,
the accretion of a dream
dreamed so slowly
life itself comes and sits at its feet
to take lessons in living.

read by Tim Kahl; audio background by Tim Kahl