Dance with a stranger

(Exercise was to continue the poem in your own terms)

Turtle - Mary Oliver

Now I see it--
it nudges with its bulldog head
the slippery stems of the lilies, making them tremble;
and now it noses along in the wake of the little brown teal

who is leading her soft children
from one side of the pond to the other; she keeps
close to the edge
and they follow closely, the good children--

the tender children,
the sweet children, dangling their pretty feet
into the darkness.
And now will come--I can count on it--the murky splash,

the certain victory
of that pink and gassy mouth, and the frantic
circling of the hen while the rest of the chicks
flare away over the water and into the reeds, and my heart

will be most mournful
on their account. But, listen,
what's important?
Nothing's important

except that the great and cruel mystery of the world,
of which this is a part,
not be denied. Once,
I happened to see, on a city street, in summer,

a dusty, fouled turtle plodding along--
a snapper--
broken out I suppose from some backyard cage--
and I knew what I had to do--

I looked it right in the eyes, and I caught it--
I put it, like a small mountain range,
into a knapsack, and I took it out
of the city, and I let it

down into the dark pond, into
the cool water,
and the light of the lilies,
to live.

With a satisfying snap
and a push of its
shovel feet, the turtle
submerges into the once clear
and now dust filled pond.

A rustling of the reeds,
a ripple announces,
another's arrival
expectantly I wait, in mild entertainment

The sound is faint, like a child
blowing into grass
Chirp Twee Chirp--
Soothing and rhythmic--

Sighing I glance up towards the sky
Amused I draft a story about
the energizer bunny saving
a goat from the evil 3-headed Yoshi.

As the bunny--
collides with the others,
the sun disappears and illuminates
the soft clouds, which are left behind

I smile and look towards the water
At long last a tiny shadow
darts quickly--
Too small to tell

Finally it shows its beady eyes
Once hidden by the lilies
Cautiously I look--
through the dust water breathing ever so silently

I get on all fours, padding softly--
creeping around the pond to see
what would I find? I gasp--
As a small frog tap-dances on my head

"My Prince!" I cry grabbing at the frog
My prince is too quick, disappears--
back into the lilies
to startle another princess.

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