Sooooooooo I'm not entirely satisfied with this one. I feel like I somehow need to conclude it better. Generally concerned about some of the imagery, as usual. It feels...uneven. And I sort of like the format, but I also don't. Comments appreciated!
PS. Thoughts on a title? I hate this one >_<
"Tall Tales"
I find myself taking posthumous advice
from Anansi.
I swallow him regularly as I sleep
and morning birds snap him up in their beaks
and carry on singing.
His careless webs span
the inhale and exhale of chasms.
I regularly hang my head
upside-down beneath bridges.
Only the ducks bellow at me
and demand nothing more than
bits of bread.
I try to pile stones along roadways
but the walls are never tall enough
for Mercury to hide behind;
children or sprites follow behind me,
skipping the wall-stones across ponds.
Mercury whispers from all the wrong places,
suction-cupped to the kitchen window
and fleeing up and down the glass,
a silver bead that boils and burns my veins.
I don't set even a toe
inside rings of mushrooms
and I wield "I wish" with care,
but there are no more elves or goblins
hiding under my bed
or at the bottom of the well in the garden.
I have never seen nightmares tangled in dream catchers,
but still I am careful with plants like mistletoe
that have been the death of gods.
PS. Thoughts on a title? I hate this one >_<
"Tall Tales"
I find myself taking posthumous advice
from Anansi.
I swallow him regularly as I sleep
and morning birds snap him up in their beaks
and carry on singing.
His careless webs span
the inhale and exhale of chasms.
I regularly hang my head
upside-down beneath bridges.
Only the ducks bellow at me
and demand nothing more than
bits of bread.
I try to pile stones along roadways
but the walls are never tall enough
for Mercury to hide behind;
children or sprites follow behind me,
skipping the wall-stones across ponds.
Mercury whispers from all the wrong places,
suction-cupped to the kitchen window
and fleeing up and down the glass,
a silver bead that boils and burns my veins.
I don't set even a toe
inside rings of mushrooms
and I wield "I wish" with care,
but there are no more elves or goblins
hiding under my bed
or at the bottom of the well in the garden.
I have never seen nightmares tangled in dream catchers,
but still I am careful with plants like mistletoe
that have been the death of gods.