(After W. S. Merwin)

I am trying to decipher the words
insects spin into night's dark speech
vapors and tremors
in a grammar of dancing limbs
the rub and thrum of combed legs
wings beating to hum resonant talk
antennae tuned to the scent of syntax
beyond the culture of my nose
their ancient heads rattle to interrogate wood
probing where we cannot follow
their joints articulating
bellies buzz meaning
the rhetoric of bodies
the language of the world
before words began