Adam J. Gellings

The First Things

Before the hours, before the days.
Before the stars were young
 
& the field filled with goldenrod
had any hope of breaking through.
 
Before conflict & quarrel.
The useless flower, polished stone,
 
fragile & rare as two hands
on a cave wall searching for an echo.
 
Before footprints in clay found
a way home & hell was just
 
boiled flame & nervous energy
giving bodies to beaches.
 
Before we survived the rupture.
Before magma filled in the gaps
 
between our small towns. Before
we learned to love in layers of earth.
 
Before the words we spoke
became prehistoric & preserved.
 
Before the soil came to life.
Before we dissolved into it.

--
Adam J. Gellings is a poet & instructor from Columbus, Ohio. His previous work has appeared in DIALOGIST, The Saint Ann’s Review, Willow Springs & elsewhere.