Once upon a time,
there was a turtle
who grew a carapace
for a hundred years
of slowing pace.

In its prudence,
that most mistaken
as enlightenment,
the tortoise often
admonished a bumblebee
hummingbird:

"- All that buzzing
and vivid colours,
do you believe
the honey of life
is for you to sip?"

And the hen,
circling by,
assented,
beaking its hunger
in the dirt.

One day
the tribe elder
crossed their path.
He roasted the chicken,
plumed a hat
with the humming colours
and threw in the fire
the turtle shell
to read futures to be
in its crackles.

Then came an era
of starvation
and men rummaged
the dirt and in misery
many claimed for
holding back the pain.
Painted in vivid red,
the children learned to sing.