We walked on the path through the woods

far enough that our teeth evolved pairs of legs

and bought upscale mansions with the furniture

already in place. They left the price tags on everything.


The whippoorwills hid where the river was

and all they could do when we found it was sing

and that was alright, mostly. The ducks

were decoy ducks and the grass

was decoy grass,

but the water was just water.


The only solution for what we had

was a map unfurled and pinned in place

like a rare insect. At least,

this is what the dentists would like us to think.


Things erupt from nowhere. 

They are limited to two of something

spaced out by three of nothing,

but even this a rare triumph of mineral

over flesh. Call it reintegration.

Call it wandering. Call it home.


We went too deep into the river

and were sucked into the gum of the earth

like an ant into amber. We were highways

stretching over a floodplain, we were random structures

that could only stay with us or leave.

We were things the earth gave back to us.