if living things
in a vast shallow sea
were to thrive through time
without measure and fall
free like rain to feed
the sea floor
.
.
if sun and wind
were to dry the wide sea
and harden its silting sand
floor for years beyond call
into a new dry land of
soil and stone
.
.
if wind and rain
were to shape the new
land into limestone hills and
fields rivers and streams
teeming with new
living things
.
.
.
if one
forest tree were to
live long enough on a high
stone ridge to hear her own
voice in the wind and teach
the others to hear
theirs
then
that
land
would be as it is here