From the marina the old couple hugged
the tidal river along the mountain’s
saddle then crawled into the cave, longing
to see what they were taught in grammar school.

For over ten thousand years, on and off,
inhabitants invented a language
of images in ochre, black and red.

Engraved and painted upon limestone walls,
the gaze of whales, horses, deer and vulvas
enchanted these curious visitors.

In the silence between drips, she listened
to ancestral voices keen through the halls
while he contemplated one thought: paintings
are stories that no one can tell in words.