Claire Beynon

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QUANDRY

for B-043

Six million years
the Dry Valleys have been waiting
and still no rain. Old notes remain
to sustain snow and sand.

Come. Rest your ear against these brittle waves.
The ancient foraminifera never sleep.
They lie awake
forever perfecting their private alphabet.
Tapping in code, they set questions and clues adrift
on currents beneath the ice.

Phrase-marks with a hint of the familiar
rise and fall
rise and fall
but without the accompaniment of language
our untrained ears can hear, answers and meaning
elude us.

One-celled creatures have the upper hand here.
This much is clear.
Knowledge and ignorance
arrive and leave
arrive and leave
on the same invisible tides.