when I was an ancient five    
I KNEW I was different
from all other creatures alive  
I did not know to ask the wise ones  
why?    
I could read their minds  
but I guess most men, barely three feet tall
are cursed with this skill  
so I watched and wondered  
and though I did not know how fish breathed  
I knew I was one, out of water  
my gills gasping  
as I walked this chunk of stone  
others seemed so at home,
not I,  
I would hide under the covers from the devil  
my sister said was real  
if they feared the same demons  
they, the infinitely normal,
did not let this be known  
so I watched and wondered
and counted their breaths  
(even then, I knew, they had a finite number until their deaths)  
and made a disturbing discovery--I did not breathe like they  
but faster than some, slower than others  
and when I tried to get in sync with them  
it would work for only a few inhalations  
and the “they” again somehow left me behind  
to breathe air, alone
when water was likely my truer home  
I can’t recall when I gave up the quest, to be like they  
they who all breathe in unison,  but I suspect  
it was on some summer day
in the dry world of a five year old stone walker  
who should never have left the deep blue sea