Aluqa, the demon who swims underwater in streams, tries to get swallowed by someone and to stick to small boys' feet and to the paws of peaceful animals, concealed himself between the prophet's right great toe and the leather strip of his sandal. The prophet carried him on his foot wandering between fat and lean until the time when he arrived in the middle of the stars, as it was written. The middle of the stars is a place where your knees never get tired and clothes never get soiled. There Aluqa was immediately discovered by his color: only the demon of water had a receding color, the base color of anguish. When he fell back into a pond, Aluqa was mistaken for a meadow bug and swallowed by an old she-frog. Used by permission of Story Line Press. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SAVING WAY by HAYDEN CARRUTH A NEW HYMN by KATHERINE MANSFIELD THE LANDSCAPE by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |