well, that didn't work - here it is again!
Let's belly roll
Echidna - Tachyglossus Aculeatus
prickly to begin with
and when approached
you belly roll
shoulder in a ball of silence
it's the same for me
except I rocked years
under the doona
perhaps that's our safety leaf
when we're close to despots
you hatch a single egg
a tongue licks your breast
in childbirth I curled screaming
with eyelids closed
even worse
breast feeding was messy
painful, brief
here we differ greatly
only in looks
my body hair is minimal
you have too much belly fur
I’m buried in paper leaves
your snout probes soil
my enemies live in tunnels
you eat them for lunch
could we swap?
human forms have ways
of tearing forests to shreds
it's like paring flesh
from ants nests
and insect wings
do you still live in a rock retreat?
if I look hard I might find you
buried in soft sand
somewhere, afraid of me
Helen Hagemann
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