By Cait Price
they take me to see the bone witch
stick out your tongue, she commands. I dream of
black tar flooding my mouth. wet-mouthed witch
on my neck, blood
on my teeth. you will be ill, she says
seeing things like that.
she is a small thing. her elbows jangle
I feel l could pinch her out
like a match
why do you stay here, she asks- my face
shuts like a desk. Maybe she can learn
to love me, I say
The bone witch laughs out-loud at that. oh yes?
and what would that teach you- that your worth
is a lesson? I hate her
for saying it. my dreams come back to me in waves
repeating suck
and surf, foam
on my ankles. You will heal, she says
flatly
water laps at her feet. She walks forward
and disappears. The tusks
on her forehead
winking out of the light.