Innocence

Tilting over the ash barricade,
I catered to the puckered tortoise below me

The corduroy leaves, imperial, ochre
Felt as soft as velvet in my tiny hands

The reptile's ashen form gorged on those such leaves
With the ferocity of a slug

Each bite monumental
The glistening sunlight on his smokey shell

I brushed my sable hair out from my face
And placed my hand on that barricade

The air as light as an icy breath

I stood there, observing
Watching as that old man tortoise padded over the brittle grass

The earth clodding in his wake

The air as light as an icy breath