Where have you been, Tattertongue?
lying with pelvis and ribcage
wanting want
old. old.
reading the mouth for
sugared ginger for
blood sausage
Why did you leave?
there was a forest
of snapping saplings
old. old.
What did you find?
the vertebrae
they were chopped
What did you do?
caught a horse
boiled its hooves
What did you taste?
only
bones and marrow-dust
Why dangle from a noose of nettle for so long?
a mayfly in amber
old. old—
But how old?
honey dripped in Loki's gaze
What did you eat?
numbers numbers
old. old.
What did you eat?
numbers numbers
old. old.
What did you see?
birch bark, ribs—
Did you cry?
salt cod—
Where did you sleep?
What did you drink? What did you eat?
What did you eat?
numbers, numb—
Why
did you return?
of fiddleheads coiled in candlefish oil
Where is your tongue?
sealed in a jar of black mead