it lies there
at one time it was smaller
and weaker
if you had walked on it's back
in it's youth
it would have opened up
and swallowed you whole
Now that it has grown
bigger and stronger
it is now safer
to travel across it's back
still you know you must not wake it
as you stride across it's back
you see the footprints
of people
and the tracks
of animals
who have walked this way before
and you feel even safer
as you walk
then you stop
you hear a low growl
a deep thumping
so deep
you can't hear it with your ears
the sound travels up through
your feet
it is the giant
stretching in the noonday sun
just as a cat would
it stretches
pushes against itself
it still sleeps
you see the crack in the ice
of the lake on which you stand
© Todd R James 2001 - all rights reserved.
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