Woodward

Once upon a time, before books,
A North Wind knocked
Ratataptap
Opening the doors of trees
Who dropped twigs and sticks
As A’s and K’s, F’s and T’s
Down to the fertile ground.

Before books, once upon a time,
People gathered below trees speaking
Words shared under shelter
While squirrels Ratatatsocked passages
Grooving roadways into trunks traversed
And Owl whooted in chorus
Punctuating hilarity late into the night.

Only the leaves rustled gently
For there were no pages to turn.