If we lived in the sea
Like eels or fish,
We would go to school
And have walking lessons.
We’d reach the beach,
And – nervous in the thin air –
Learn to stagger slowly
On the warm sand.
If we lived in the air
Like dragon-flies or birds,
We’d have our walking lessons
On the tops of hills,
The parapets of tall buildings.
We’d be seized by gravity,
Nervous of the lower depths
And scared of… unfalling.
If we lived in the earth
Like worms or moles,
We’d come to school by tunnel
In dark glasses,
Clump along like spacemen
On the planet’s shell;
Perplexed by the horizon
And the rush of blood to our feet.