Nighttime

Did a big brain       raise us

          into mountains

to range

          over the valley,

to see

          the approach     before

whoever it was     knew

          they would walk

a path

          between dusk & dawn

half-awake?

          An eye squinted,

& sex as idea

                     made the lids dance.

Now, the brain

          pauses     on the edge

of ascension       or surrender, one

          sleepy hand

pointing at a totem,

              & the other weighing

a stick

          or jagged stone.