A turtle rises
From the rippled river
He creeps slowly
On the muddy bank
Crawling and scratching
With dinosaur toes
Crawling and scratching
By its right to reproduce
Crawling and scratching
As his father's father did
Crawling and scratching
Up this same river bank--
With a long line of turtles
Back beyond memory
To the first turtle born
In the motherland of muck
In the universe of spring
