What We Don’t Know

Before many humans
Invented then or there
Planting and husbandry
Birthing work and storage
Before we were alive
You or I—we followed

Moving landscapes of food
And maybe the moon—not
Such auspicious seasons
For burying our hopes
And protecting their growth—
Stalking what we followed

Were our ancestors’ lives
Tracking moving landscapes
Preferable to ours?
What a question—it can’t
Matter much anymore
Where herds and berries go

We are the herds ourselves
Following each other
Grazing on our grasses
Where we’ve gone berries grow
Something is fattening
Us—for what we don’t know