take a look, it’s a massive spine
or a back bone that could have
a rib cage, except the DNA
is empty, empty cages
swamped by the sea
truncated nerve endings
where the messages got lost
– or severed –
because there’s not a green leaf left
not even a branch
to hang a thought off
and the roots want to hold
something – the grasp is still there –
the longing from end to end
the tapering to an angel
on top
that decorates Christmas
But this spine or trunk … it lies at its end
And at its end, and ours,
is one
little bit of life
pineal in shape and dexterity
and connected to the gut
of all things
That gland flits
in the wind and the moon and hides
behind the carbon copy of modern life
If I were a powerful man
who wants to control
minds, I would chop that gland out and off
or encase it in concrete
and fizzy drinks -
anything that deadens our nature
because that little thing, left
slightly green
beacon of life
is instinct, thinking for itself.
Tags: 2010, beach walk, landscape, observations, paekakariki, shape-shifting
