you told me when last
you went to ground
you’ll make it go stale
but I’m just so tired
of throwing it out
warm tears breed mold
that kisses and spreads
like spider-veins of
blue cancer or relief
1. break two mongoose hearts
into a dented copper bowl
2. cover both red yolks
with cuckoo’s milk
beat ’til it cries
3. add cinnamon regret
4. dredge thick slices
through this wreckage
5. press them flat on
fevered forehead
flip them quick
when smelling loss
then choke down whole
with thumbs tied back
and both eyes broken
(first appeared in the Spring 2012 issue of Tulane Review)