The Sheep Who Fastened the Sky to the Ground

After I found out that you were a sheep,

it was always afternoon, and I stood trembling

at the pasture fence, my hands full of dandelion

and the longer grasses. How could I call you

to come near? We had no names and only

this place, this sun, the hill and its limitless sky

held together by your gentle outline as you leaned

toward tufts of grass. How beautiful you were,

so still, so close to moving. I gathered

bouquets of clover, strung violets from the fence slats.

Sometimes I whispered, but the words disappeared

before I knew what they were or what they meant.

Once I saw darkness. I remember my eyes were open

and there was nothing, only black, and my heart aching

as I felt for my face and I was still human. While I cried,

stars came and traced sheep in the sky and the voice that knew

never spoke. I fell asleep mistaking the scent of hay

for your breath. To wake once from the sleep in which

you are held, in which your name emanates without utterance

from the being that cradles you—There is no other sleep.

Now it is always afternoon. How can I call you

when we have no names? I search

for the clover and violets. There are always enough.

My shadow is always the same length and shaped

with arms and legs. Between us, the distance of field is green

and exact; the sun gleams from its cloudless height—I know

that there is enough time, that there is always enough.

Please. Come to me, remember me: undo this world.

Source: What Animal (University of Georgia Press, 2003)