Amoeba to Man
for Mateo Maxwell Holmes

a poem asleep
eyes shut in peace
confidently breathing

mama's near, she's been there
from the gun went off
from the hundred yard dash was run
and this runner, this winner
broke the tape

she's been there for him
cheering him on

though resting
though sleeping peacefully
what work it was to be born
to come into being

what somersaults
like a trapeze artist
upon an umbilical cord

like a forest of chimpanzees swinging
cheetahs chattering

though in his mother's arm
in quiet sleep, idea of a blank tablet
far from true, not true at all

history of what occurred in the womb
truth be told, story be told
could easily fill several hundred pages

yet at birth it's suggested
that we're starting from zero
when new life's linked
to when life began

however many millions
of months, weeks,
days ago that was


© Obediah Michael Smith, 2008
3:26 p.m. 15.07.08