by Pavel Chichikov
All beings were pressed down by approaching rain
Only one was moving, a yellow span worm
A thin segmented beast with a white belly
And black thread that ran down the center of it
With its whole length it spanned, length upon length
Curving and straightening, bending and measuring
One millimeter at a time
And as it went it sewed with its black thread
Each time it climbed a flower it broke a petal
The red and white and pink of echinacea
The cobalt of the daisy, the white of the mint
And it sewed the color to itself
All beings were pressed down by heaviness
But the storm had not yet come
All was still and all were oppressed
But the worm that spanned and spanned and climbed
And the Lord said: I will transform all Men
Make them worms, and let them cover themselves
Let them cover themselves with borrowed color
Let them measure My garden with their bellies
Let them climb the stalk of every flower
And every still plant, and every docile tree
And let them arduously measure themselves
Day after day with false measure
And let them be that way
Until the coming of the storm
Visit Pavel's website at Grey Owl Press.
