THIS FERTILE WORLD

Begonia blossoms,

butterflies at dusk,

eggs inside of Armadillos—

this is a fertile world

filled with premonitions

and civil wars.

Let’s pit lovers against poachers

to try to keep it safe—

and then go on watching

the memories we haven’t had yet

from underneath flimsy umbrellas

in a century of rain.

And the rooster…we mustn’t forget

to set it free

before the gamblers come

to cart it off

to the cockfight.

All we need is

an ingot’s worth

of imagination

and some parchment

to translate

nocturnal sweats

into couplets of grace

penned with the poison

from a scorpion’s tail.

Time is nothing more than
learning to foxtrot in iron shoes.