The story of us started when a sand dune,

whipped into a feminine shape dreamt of life.

whispered her wish to the wind,

then jumped into the moon spirit.

In 1551, she crept down the mountain into a wolf’s den

and stole the life of a cub.

A boy of small stature

slaughtered the she wolf and ate her spirit.

With it, she and he taught his tribe to walk as animals,

 to protect the land from invading devils

Heartbroken, in 1919 when the race riots murdered her sons

she once again shed her skin.

And as a soldier,

she had cried oceans into existence.

The story of us started when a panther,

licking his wounds in the dead of night,

 hunting the light,

leapt into the spirit of the sun.

The sun swept across the savannah filling the lifeless limbs of a Baobab tree

363 years he baked in its bark,

before latching on to a passing slave catcher.

 In 1879, he was the son of a king who walked like a God,

teaching his warriors to be strong as trees and quick as cats

 He was an empress,

 and at one time, even balled himself up into sounds and became music.

There we spun

watching the world unfurl through motion and dance

The story of us

 our story

has lifetimes.