I crossed the valley where a dead tree refused to completely return to the earth that nourished it,
negotiating with genes archaeologists have uncovered a 100,000-year-old workshop holding the tools
and ingredients in a South African cave that has already yielded surprises that expressed themselves
before I was born.

Before I was born,
I circumambulated
                                 myself
                                               without
                                                             circling
                                                                              back