Image courtesy of Lucas Albuquerque on Unsplash
serpent-hair
tiny hisses forked tongues
iridescent greens and blues and purples and such reds
gown of mist and moonlight and earth-deep shadows
barefoot down the road
puppy in hand
(left at a crossroad shrine
suffocated
favored offering)
dogs circling her legs
yipping
barking
running ahead and back
circling running again
and the ghosts who follow
uncounted
a river of pain fear denial
angry
hungry for the life never lived
now never to be lived
howling in anguish
answering howl from the dogs
the puppy whines in her hands
serpent-hairs rise and hiss tongues snapping
and the ghosts are silent again
for a moment
[Written by Rebecca Buchanan.]
