Mars red shafts of forest in flight
he now but shadow cutout
upon a golden nebula
of rising sun to autumn grasses
the Earth is alive he knows
because he sees her breathing
her breath the most fragile of vapors naming
directions beneath his outstretched hands
hands outstretched
stretched out to root fingerlike
his lowered body
ground closing body
skull terminating body
lips drawn smooth as lacquer
across an uneven parting of yellowed teeth
first frost
upon the plump red warmth
of his tongue melts
like the intimation of knowledge
at a serpent guarded spring
