Julia Casterton
To The Man
I
Behemoth shall I call you?
Mother Behemoth, furry and ridged
whose belly I attack with my open mouth,
upon whose belly I ride
until the night gives out to me
her pleasures?
Behemoth, who presses me down
into the bed
anchors my spine
half-suffocates?
Mother I call you deep down
as though you could carry that weight.
You have a sparse patch
back of your head
a little celibate plain
of baby’s hair
where your father maybe tried to scalp you:
and you’ve been onto him ever since.
Sometimes you think I am he.
Father you say, deep down,
afraid there is a wood-shed in me
where little boys are taken.
II
Your ground stays locked all year.
I cannot dip my hand in
to touch a lode -
though we dip and touch,
though we have our hands full
with each other -
I have to live on berries
gather dried wood
cook the few fish I’ve watched for
with my spear
days and nights.
Old Tundra head
I have to dig my claws in
have to get some purchase.
Page(s) 38
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