habitat (for the C-5 kids)

My habitat is more

than just the space around my nest

the meadow an ocean

the wide clear air

my spirit

that reaches

beyond the horizon

beyond the soil

now shuddering

in rusted maws of steel

You shake loose buried treasure

blindfold slung

across one eye

my children and yours

scatter shrieking before you

impediments

to the enterprise

at hand

fur and feathers

to a cyclops

seem somehow made

of red tape

and

they

are

gumming up

your machine

You snicker

when your blind eye suggests

there might be dragons

But there’s something twitchy in your smile

and you sense strange stirrings

in the dirt

beneath your feet