1

Incontrovertible evidence:
the leathery bottom lip of a horse,

the stiff ridge along the edge
of a calloused human heel,

the lung-shaped yellow fungus
tucked in the fork of a cottonwood.

2

Use your thumbnail to carve a heart
in the tough hide of the fungus,

run your palm over the dead skin
of your own living heel,

kiss the horse.