A gilled larval form of a species of the genus Amblistoma, the axolotl is a god-like creature of Aztec mythology. An expressionless face, with no features other than the eyes. Its existence tells of eternal survival and a refusal to grow up. We organize a happening in a grotto-like basement, an aquarium, and become lab technicians. We examine and dissect the axolotl, the humanoid limbs, the pink gill branches, the lidless eyes.

We watch it, we observe. We try to unravel its slowed movements underwater, longing for the promise of a rebellion that lies beneath denial and the stopping of time: Now, I am an axolotl!

(C) G2 Baraniak