Chiseling limbs in the wind,
laughing. Willow, willow.
I get married there, amongst the prime rib
and dahlias. But even as I don the white dress
and honeysuckle down the aisle,
you are inside of me, singing of ancestors.
I’m counting up your bones,[1] you start,
before dropping all the dishes.
Bride white bones. The ancestors
pull up in their boats on the beach. T
he willows rattle their bare mustard branches in the wind.
The sky is gray. The water is gray.
I do, I say, I do, I do.
[1] Nastasia, N. (2006). I’m counting up your bones. [Recorded by Nina Nastasia]. On
On Being. [LP, Vinyl, Album]. Brighton, England. FatCat Records.
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