OverTheRainbow

bicycle wheels pushed against young 

(already knobbly and weathered, wary of the world outside their tangled branches)

cold gray book return

nibbles, tastes, laps up books - wait -

spits them right back out.

My fingers tremble as I take slow step after slow step toward the end of the Polaris hallway.

We knew

they existed

before they knew how to stand and walk and breathe.

We sowed

the seeds

of evolution on this bluish-green marble

floating

in this tiny little galaxy they've named candy bars after.

Lilypads drifting like humans in this bluish-green marble of a world

Inner workings concealed but known, yet we know absolutely nothing

slipping out of eyesight

through windows

and out back doors

in the dark of night

with only the stars as witnesses.

slipping through thick forests

carrying sweet-smelling woven baskets