Solstice

The runt kitten eating sloppily gets applause
While the bite on my neck is nursed. I saw a baby
Nursing once from a cut tit and it had a bloody mouth.

The plow got so dull it felt like a finger in the mouth.
Sharpening by moonlight took so long that all six sons
Had to rest their heads.

Every morning a man goes to the river and picks a switch for his son
Before stuffing his mouth with cattails to muffle the crying. I see how still
I can be. I am so still he pulls the switch right from my mouth.

An ox limps through town with a conibear on each horn.
I am greasing the posts that lead to my balcony
Before I set the street on fire.

Erik Carlsen lives in Washington with the ghost of a dog named Duke.