air shimmers in the iron-clad heat
the whistling blue of sky crowns the head
nothing moves
suddenly, in a thrash of mulga, a thumb-sized lizard
far older than humanity
gazes into my eyes
a mottled form barely visible against the wood
in that moment the earth curved and spun
I understood the sacred vow
I am being reborn over and over
until every living being has received the grace
the grace of illumination
the grace of annihilation