In the Beginning

2014-01-01

Kate is teaching the kids about dinosaur air.

“That air you breathe—that air
You have inside you every time
You take a breath—that’s dinosaur air,”
she says. “Dinosaurs breathed it.”

The kids’ eyes are very wide.
They take deep gulps of air, just
to have more dinosaur air inside them.

“The air we have is all the air
we ever will have,” Kate says,
“so we have to take good care of it.”

The kids gulp less. Consider
the air already inside.

Kate tells more.
“Actually,” she says,
“we’re all cousins.”

The kids look at each other,
disbelieving, believing: “You?”

“We—all of us—“ Kate says,
“way, way back, began as cousins.
Way back in the beginning.”

The kids whoop, clap each other
on the back. For the rest of the day,
they savor air and call each other “Cousin.”

From Rev. Nancy Shaffer’s book of poetry, Instructions in Joy, published by Skinner House in 2002. Available from the UUA Bookstore or 800-215-9076.