it was an exodus

as if the final dry stick child

was at last free

the grandfather said

"the people returned

they boarded boats

and they sailed the arms of the ancestors

they had a long journey and had to cross valleys of belly buttons

and ears and even down the long crevice of a bony nose

but finally they arrived

to the heart they were seeking."

the stick child followed the wet trail

down the elbow of his grandfather

his feet were hot

people were boarding boats.

he was on his way to the hairy ears

that were moving with each sigh

as his grandfather looked back to the parched village.