Yes
and Nu were sitting under a tree listening to the cicadas sing when
they decided to write a poem. "It should only be short," said
Nu, "because we are so very small." Yes agreed, because her
name was Yes, and they began to put the poem together.
"We should write the first line together," said Nu. "Yes,"
said Yes.
"Should
we write it in a new language?" asked Yes. "No", said Nu.
So they decided to write it out of their brains because they thought their
father might understand it, even though he would never see it.
The first line was the sound of the cicadas in the tree.
So was the next line,
and the line after that.
The cicadas sang for a very long time and the poem went on and on.
Then it got dark and they sang even louder, but Yes and Nu couldn't see
to write any more.
"Let's sing," said Nu, and Yes agreed.
They sang all night until the sun came up, and then they had to write
about that.
"This poem is getting very big," said Nu. "Yes," said
Yes; "I think that
we should stop soon."
"Let's roll up the paper and put it in the tree," said Yes.
So they did. But the paper began to unroll down the tree across the ground
and into the lake. It was longer than Hiawatha and the Bible all put together.
"No one will ever read this," said Nu. "Does it matter,"
said Yes. "No,"
said Nu.