Dichotomy

Eric Sneathen

“I was born during the season of darkness, and given deep depth.
Unseen, I crept from drowned mud clefts and swallowed myself.
Through seaweed gills adorned by maroon crustaceans and holy plaques,
I breathe—inhaling the uninhalable.
I sustain lakes and rivers and oceans within my many bellies.
And when I crack open, milky stone jellies stare back
Enchanting.

“I was carved from sandstone and given a pelt of sun-spotted glory.
I have risen the mountains, and parched the deserts, and dusted myself free of them.
I fly with wings of petrified tree limbs, blanched by the sovereign star.
My tail, a tangle of papyrus tufts kept far from the delta.
Herds have died climbing my craggy vertebrae,
Found the tide pools of my eyes,
And blessed my body entirely.”