Era of the There: when dragons were mapped & Great Goddess had mercy (a poem)

Arhats (holy men) Ding Yunpeng. Ming dynasty, 1368 – 1644 B.C.E. Shanghai Museum

Era of the There

One day you stepped off an edge.

Dragons nipped your toes.

Which grew back.

Those were different times.

Your daughter sailed toward There.

She puzzled.

You know how it blushes at

end of light?

Feet flip flopped a cover-

let over turtle-back and loam.

Stilt birds strutted.

You serenaded valleys lying
long on their backs, hands

behind head making of clover-

arms foothills.

Those were different times.

As far as eye could see

greeny willow-leaning and
un-ladle-able soup of alligator-scale. 

Paddle too far and be — like that!

in an instant! all of you! in a gullet

gulped gone — gracefully — 

to not forever flail in the dark

coppery cauldron of mystery.
Oh, even then Great Goddess had
mercy on our miserable lives.

[by Sarah Sarai] [published in Ocellus Reseau: The OR Panthology, 2013] [thanks to Other Rooms Press]