Here is how the world began

Here is how the world began

said a human who was not there
This is the problem None of us were
How do we learn about that which
we only get further and further from
Actually that is not the problem
It sounds painful but that is how
everything works on Earth Think
of history and teachers and books
and photographs and petri dishes
and husks of letters in a drawer
Primary Sources, a teacher writes
on a chalkboard right now under
yellow light We can scrabble at the door
to the room that makes us exist but
once we get let out we can’t report
back Decide which number is betrothed
to another number Talk to a rock Ask
the pine trees with your mind and hear
the answer of their quietness