Birth

did you really think

it would be easy

passing from one

realm to another

then again I don’t remember

the trek through the canal

but I’m pretty sure it was no

Venetian gondola ride

we guileless gill-less fish

float for awhile in primordial soup

kept warm in a take-out

container called mommy

until the moment determined

by One infinitely amused

at the presumption

of a due date

propelled by peristalsis

through God’s alimentary canal

thrust into a heady mix

of nitrogen and oxygen

if only we knew not to be afraid

we’d ride the wave of breath

like cosmic surfers emerging

from submersion to the light

that parts the waves after

a wipeout rising to the shimmer

that dances on the surface

where water meets air