common ancestor 

i took a wrong turn
on the phylogenetic tree. dear god
let me skip the chordata.
a spine is so overrated. i mistake
gunshots for fireworks & fireworks
for gunshots. i want a house in the city 
full of spiders. 
i am good with the life of a sponge
or even maybe an annelida. 
i have always afterall had an affinity 
for dirt. sometimes as a child i would
burry myself & wait for someone
to dig me up like treasure. no one ever did
& so i grew an egg hand to chip
myself out from beneath the shale.
once my father took a wrong turn
on the highway & ended up in baltimore.
he called us from the side of the road
as a chimpanzee. i was so jealous.
i wanted to cup the receiver & whisper,
"keep going." if he ended up a cnidaria 
i would still love him. i would make him
the best huge salt water tank &
on fathers day we could all get inside
& let him sting us for old time's sake.
i have long ago accepted that choice 
is always fleeting & unruly. the ancestors 
whose bodies turned into flowers
& those who became false gods. 
i travel with an oar in the car just in case
i end up having to swim upriver.
in the mirror i can see both my grandmothers.
they have rivers in the wrinkles
of their faces. i am on my belly. i am a salamander.
i am a snake. i am not getting out of this. 
a branch is where the fruit comes from.
i open my mouth & no apples come out.
the common ancestor we share
with orangutans, gorillas, & chimpanzees 
is standing there with a face full of persimmons. 
i feed her pasta. she digs a hole
in the yard for us both.