Laetoli

Laetoli

At Laetoli,
for seventy feet,
there are footprints,
preserved in volcanic ash,
three and a half million years old.
Down from the trees,
fully upright, pre-human,
a woman and a man
walking
          together
                     somewhere.
Who knows if she's with child,
what beast they just escaped, or
if they've lost their tribe or are rejoining it.
Tread carefully,
we never know,
how we'll be remembered,
as are they,
walking
          somewhere
                          together.