Little by little—
molecule by molecule—
our past
becomes our future
like a shell
which keeps accreting;
like a bone
that fills with marrow;
like a black speck of sand
blown by destitute wind
which promotes
fallow hill
up to
sovereign king mountain;
or the mollusk
that secretes a fluid
turning irritants
to pearls,
which—once glimpsed
by the desperate
men aboard the trawler—
cause every eyebrow
and possibility
to narrow.
