there was only movement. Feet
looked more like hands, and we walked
them into the shape they are today.
Someone constructed a subway, and
people ducked under the earth
like ants. Planes were a passing
fad, until scientists figured out
how to shatter the body,
and blow the fragments
a thousand places at once.
Everyone was quite
happy: their fingers dipped
in the Baltic, elbows butting up
Argentina, ears in West Virginia listening
to the sound of oak. No one
complained. Or at least,
we think no one complained.
With the mouth and brain
on separate continents,
language proved impossible.
But one day, a guy
decided to find himself.
After long waits in immigration offices,
legal red tape, and adoption papers,
he did it. With the help
of an out-dated anatomy
book, he sewed on the
arms and duck taped
the eyes. It wasn’t a pretty
sight, but what happened
next was downright disastrous.
His lips formed the first word
anyone had ever heard.
“Why” he said.
Then everything stopped.