Galapagos Alison Hawthorne Deming (bio) The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled. —John Berger 1. Teleférico First the continent rock solid at the kneesof Volcán Pichincha to begin the songof beginnings. What soil what plantsagree to thin air two milesabove the sea which is nowhere to be seenfrom this height where clouds mask range after rangethat part Quito from the Pacific. Spikey grassand tuffets of tough collective weed azorellahas built its own soil amassing the cushionon which it sits waxy spears for leaves yellow asteroidflowers a genius plant rooting on pumice decaying its wayself-composting to its future. The city diminutive belowscattered in the valley like a handful of dice and everywhereat altitude communication towers steel gridworkmounted with disks and drums receptors and projectorsreaching out so needful to be in touchLa Dolorosa watching from the quiet of her sanctuary. 2. City What is a city? The way we live in our numerousness.What is a city? The place where water gathers in cisterns.What is a city? The place where smoke lingers on its way to sky.What is a city? A room in the animal house for people.What is a city? The basilica where gargoyles become real animals leaping from parapets but never falling. 3. Islands Whatever lives on Isabela Fernandina Santiagoflew or swam or drifted on a mat of weeds and landedon hardened lava ropey swirls of rock motion frozenbut apparent in patterns left on black ground [End Page 9] where only one plant a spindly reddish-yellow laceworkcares to root and rooting begins to think this could workthe way a mind does after thinking I'm done there isnothing left for me to say or do or love in a world of woundsthen some little tendril reaches out from the split seedthat a seabird has carried by accident in its webbed footand a story begins and branches out and finds the lightand doesn't care how little rain will fall as longas it has a place to fix itself and sift the mistthat blows inshore thanks to the music of the spheresand maybe as the tendrils grow they find the hostile placehas become a home and the seed has redefined the word it wasbecause all it ever wanted was to begin again and so 4. Iguana Oh sure one or two beady skinned monstersridge backed long clawed blunt headedmight have made it floating from Ecuador on a broken tree limbbut how to explain thousands upon thousands queued up ingroup salutes to the sun or lying together by dozens disguisedas rocks to spoon one spiny claw draped over the shoulderof another and then they wake scurry in waddling gaitto water's edge dive and swim gleaning seaweedoff underwater rock adapted we say like novel to moviefrom land feeders to marine machines no predatory neighborsit's just one long beach party a sea lion or twolumbering up to sleep on the sand good friendssays the guide about every living thing though of courseeating is a factor shark takes sea lion pup hawk takes turtle egg.Flightless cormorants are the norm hanging outmicro-wings to dry they gave up building big wingsso easy was the catch along shore in time their preywill learn to fear but now the immigrants make it look easyto inhabit a place that never before was home new landno springs no rivers just every organism's joy to thrive. 5. Tortoise The mammals did not make it maybe a mouse or ratuntil people brought them mammal to mammal transmissionwhalers and buccaneers hundreds of years of themtheir graffiti still play on the rock wall cinema at Tagus Cove [End Page 10] so many months at sea they carried cows and goats and chickensin the hold for food barrels and barrels of watergambling they could refill the casks and livestock...