imagine

trees not merely melting, dropping their seasonal
froth but getting shorter softer till in the morning one day

you look out of a now much lower misshapen window
and they’re nothing but toadstools

edges of lawn now run greenly down sidewalk and street
street flows inexorably into the sewers

freeways clog under the advance of the slopes now seeking
their level like water

each day each step takes you longer in this plasticine
world left out through carelessness in noonday heat

and wherever you place your foot you are not certain
of firmness

soon you will have to adapt to all fours
then

as your hands too sink no matter how much you struggle
how little you move

you will know the calm panic unblinking stare
of giants no less than small rodents amphibians birds

ever so slowly swallowed
toward a crude digestion a dark refined return