For Kate and Toby
Curiosity may have killed
Many a cat
But never a turtle.
With their big red eyes
They don't even know
They are untouchable.
They pretend they have no shell
And can stay underwater
Indefinitely
To mingle with the existential fish,
Nibble at the nastiest shit,
Will it to gold.
Only other turtles hear them,
Their sales pitch is too logical,
So one would never think,
Swimming there, that they knew
Such secrets, of the algae,
The lizard, the seal,
For they are not, in the water,
Really secrets, until they dry
On the bank
With the salt on their lips
To become more, and less,
In the air than they were.
They see such profundity
In merely floating
On the stream,
Such wisdom
As they lay
In charging sun,
And anxiety as they vie
With different sizes
To be seen as a friend,
Yet every time they splash back in
It's the first time, something
No one's ever done before.
