contemplation of the clam

contemplation of the clam

crusty old clam
denizen of the deep
sitting on the ocean floor
contemplating his
nonexistant navel
a brain in a growing skull of shell
thinking thinking
wise un-thoughts
humming along
with the sleeping-waking-
sleeping-waking rhythms
of the creatures breathing air above -
and the creatures swimming below -
the flat barrier known as
the surface of the sea
the ceiling of the sea
his non-thinking a web of connection
sighing, now fluttering
rising and falling like a wave or a
breeze beneath a prayer flag
pondering existence each to his own.
each mind is a part of the physics of the universe;
each mind is a contained universe
far larger than its bony container,
the clam
so much bigger than his shell