We did not take to ignorance
     as fish took to water.

          We were not at home
     in our element.

We were not better
     at navigating its currents

          than strangers,
     than amateurs—

     than nervous wildebeests,
or fearful carabou, than

          than anxious cuckolds,

or any of the many legions
     of timorous, cloven-hoofed creatures

          crossing alien worlds,
     along inherited paths.