from fact to faction
a gathering of teeth
the jaw with its standing stones
like a henge on hinges
offerings of food reduced
to a few hard words
for a songless tongue
is heavier than the devil
and unkissed lips miss
that lipstickiness
glossy as sunlit moss
scarlet as a cardinal flower
on the opposite bank of a creek
choked with rhododendron
and you lose shoes and socks
wade into the cold current
and later when you’re stumped
by a freshly cut ring of wood
where a hollow white oak
has gone missing
you recall all you’ve learned
in watercourses
step inside that chalk outline
and channel a storm
