So hot.
Naked is good when you sweat this much.
He climbs the tree in search of a breeze.
Ah, here it is.
Sunlight through leaves patterns his brown skin.

He sighs for companionship.
Where is that snake?
Of all the animals,
the one with words.

Much goes over his head–
the origin of the universe,
the nature of God,
the meaning of life…
too deep for a new brain,
too tame for a body uncovering itself.

He'd rather swim,
play fetch with the dog,
search for new fruit.

But there are times,
like now,
when what he really wants
is to talk…
or at least to listen.

If the snake shows up,
maybe he'll simply ask him,
"Can we talk about regular stuff today,
like the new otters,
or when this weather will break,
or what would make one crawl around all day on one's belly?"

Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.