(no subject)

[labellementeuse]

catalogue of the universe
with apologies to Margaret Mahy

start on the ground floor
and work your way up
        (ground floor ought to be
        appropriately named; look here for
        geology and the taste of dirt,
        perhaps also geography and
        something about
        earthquakes.)

by the time you reach the top floor
you will have passed through all the universe.

you may be climbing a long time.
        (fortunately there are stairs,
        lifts, and sometimes
        catalogues who can direct you where to go;
        should you desire direction.)

the first floor might be all about humanity,
the things we know first and foremost,
like how to hurt your brother,
how to kiss your mother,
the shape and fine patterning of the bones
in your youngest sister's hands.

second floor: dinosaurs!
- and other sorts of bones inhuman,
old. this is where imagination
takes hold
and colours in the spaces.

somewhere in the middle are treetops,
leafy green and birdsnests,
instructions for how to make a treehouse,
the geometry of ladders
and the formation of swings and seesaws.

followed directly by the sea,
the cries of seagulls,
salt and sweat and tears,
sand in the sandwiches
and how to grind seashells into dust
in order that they may be washed away.

the second to last floor
is the things we are all trying to forget
look here for russian novels, grief
and political commentary,
including systems of government
and the wages of war.

and on the top floor find the sky,
the whys of winds and weather,
the shapes and naming of the stars,
drawings of the wings of birds
and explanations of their hollow bones,
the wild heights of feeling
& of flight.

to take it all out
up the last staircase
and onto the roof.
oxygen molecules and the spaces between them.
        (at last you have it,
        air and the secrets of breathing.)