320/365

we’re staring at a puddle brimming with tadpoles
this student and me on an outdoor ed day trip
in the heat, on a path, somewhere, in a city, in asia:
they seem so tiny and ill-equipped to what is bound
to happen to them when this incubator reservoir
dries up, leaving a dark mud stain before evaporating
into a unremarkable memory.

untethered symbionts.  

one kid mentions a condition where bones grow faster
than muscles causing painful strains. one kid points
out two birds of prey and a little egret. one kid complains
he rarely leaves his gaming chair. one kid laughs at all my jokes.

in the end, we took a wrong turn from a straight line and got lost
missing the highlight of the walk, instead eating lunch under
the tar smoke of the industrial area crawling with muddy lorries:

it’s not an adventure if you don’t get lost, i say chewing a salty
almond as we stare past a barb wired fence at the approaching storm.
 
comforted
by the fact
that the tadpoles
will be okay
for another day.