Water came before thirst,
before sand, the sea,
before the tide, the moon,
and sun before Earth.

Bodies lived before love,
and tender leaves before
a body ate—raw food
before the age of fire.

Death came seconds after
life, but some life won’t die—
a colony of sea grass older
than the marsh that roots it,

a fungus in Oregon larger
than a blue whale. Fish
drown in oil, seeds mutate,
a bird falls from acid skies—

the soul needs a soul-
making vale, the lion a grass-
fed lamb. Dear thirst,
dear life, dear lack—before

desire, the planet was no
gorgeous world, Eden
no poem, the tale no Troy,
Helen a girl herding goats.