Time as a Library

excursion and return

a hand pulls out a book
and other hands replace it later

Ancestors: Womb Spell

not one of you may come here
asking to be born

One Prayer

may night not be heavy
may heavy not be lonely
may lonely not be nightly
may nightly not be only

Coming and Going

you went away
and then you returned
but I didn’t see
the bend where you turned

Ancestors: Staying and Going

army marry
factory farm

ridge and holler
town and water

some of us roamed far

Making Books

bone folder
fold my bones
bind me up
take me home

Sleep Prayer

make me still
let me heal
steal voluminous hours
when you need
pass in and out of the door of dreams
please

November

prop-tailed woodpecker
wheedles and twists the bark
a small murmuration
pushes close and pulls apart
coming and going and coming and going
before they depart

rain rain
come again
go away
another day