Alastair MacLeod 
El Ombligo 
the belly button

‘He watched her as she walked off – the thick black hair, the green top, then the brown midriff, then the blue jeans, then the black boots. Black, green, brown, blue, black.That night he set to work and sketch painted. First he drew the belly button, then he worked out from that as a dancer would. All moves revolving round this one point, centred on her belly button, the ombligo.His teacher had taught him “this is where the person began, where they were connected to the mother, this is their centre, forget the brain, focus on the ombligo.”