Hoag Holmgren
reniform
free-arm comfort of raptor shadows
splashing skin with
dusk among the dwarf pines
shaped by wind eyes
carved on the antlertipped
spear haft
remember the damselfly
sifting through mulberry fumes
the sacked
and burned
half-ring
of bones
*
crosshatch
a limping auroch rooting in bracken
a stream-infested summer
humming among lice
cold-toe scents of dead ash
talk back
to the mouth of
the dolmen the glow worm
attempts
another
approach
*
aviform
shadows walking hold the
troubled hum
of night boulders pouring in
without the gift of drain
shadows entwine leave with arrive
snow vanishing in surf once
had a name
cloudmurk gums the ears
as rain pulls worms into day nothing
heartens like the scar sulphured or
the family reek of piss
*
circle
hear again which lairmauling by
which eye-scrabbing badger
again the kestrel-ground sands
that ambush the old
again which scorpioncloud pregnancy
after fingering hoof prints
for slow breathing
warning again before smoke replaces
hands and feet
*
quadrangle
bend milk bend blood to ground holes
see night-births relent milkblood
tasting of turtle walk inside milk walk inside blood
good for old eyes the named
milk-hornet the named blood-fig milk’s dunce
blood’s oracle
was it snake milk birthing rain or was it blood
of half-seen gashes
coils of fever drowning bad-luck pebbles
blood fingers filling-her-leaf-wad
*
negative hand
nagual-dropped boneflute
jaguaring see pawprinted rivermud
strength in hearing
nightsky lights charm runs
butte-hails echo sunrise sunset
voice filings
wind totems blow
wasp-wings over knuckled
ground the
muscled canyon’s
gourd offer
here
* *
Image: Klea McKenna, “Volcano Watchers”
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