She slid down the sky.
She came sliding down
the wide blue sky
early spring blue, cloud spattered,
and a woman, sliding,
pushing her way out head first,
sliding down,
towards the unknown far below:
the turtle-back island,
the soft brown mud,
the animal people who will make her welcome,
although she is a stranger.
She stands on the land
wide-eyed, astonished
by the sky above her,
the mud between her toes.
This is how we all came,
empty-handed, uncertain,
our hearts full with strange gifts.
10th March 2010