Summer--lizards liked to live
in the Old Man's rock pile,
as he was a stone mason
and I was his hod-carrier
and they were dry and cool
reptiles. They scampered
then stopped to watch me
watch them scamper. They
might do pushups. They
always slightly grinned,
thinking of lizard jokes.
So gray, so scaly dry they
were, with plump biceps
and thighs. They raised
families in those rocks.
Passed on lizard knowledge
without saying a word. My
mammal eyes and their
reptile eyes regarded
each other all bright Sierra
summer. Sometime in
Fall they went to vacation
in dormancy, and I drove
down-down the curling
highway to the Valley
to study in the rigid
buildings of academia.
hans ostrom 2022
