HArvest

table of contents

***

The night

went searching for my body

to physically crush me

but inside its maw

I went too

and with closeness, the link between muscle and memory met

like magnets

so I popped the straws from my mouth,

sat up–

the plan was

to fish out Sliptide’s memories

with a spell

while the twenty-seven rings

drained the night 

and fed the trees

but you

you you you

clouded all plans,

I drew

my shaking walking stick in the shape

of the activation rune

for the summoning rings

and the night

overhead,

stars descending to crush me,

wailed

railed

against the magic.

I covered my ears,

crawled on sleep-stiff limbs

to the closest summoning ring

feeding the trees

on night life force

and picked out sticks

from the mud

to rewrite the runes

to feed me

a portion of the life instead,

and when the night

tried pulling away

I spoke a spell

to the retracting darkness:

slack kalah

rich el rien ruud

clorper cala slkickth

esthil thisel

coloc burl

burm

reapseeth blae

(weakling,

your life is mine)

and it was

so