Your hooves clatter and thrash limbs snap, vines strangle In stygian shadows others cry – Reverberations of carnal croaking and birdsongs broken, A cacophony of bellows and wails echo in my abdomen. You wrestle in my sticky muddy earth amongst their calls as my hot breath begins to engulf you. Heavy, wet air thick with winged things And viscous veins occludes your beady eyes. Reflections dance on winding roots, trunks, and debris Which enclose and bedevil you with their endless repetition, They signal a crystalline haven above my sneering treetops Impossible limitless blue freedom You sought solace in the wild lawlessness of my chamber You let me swallow you whole, and I thank you for the nourishment

(Erin Sankey)