2 September 2003 | Vol. 3, No. 3
Night Songs
Some nights, birds take form
from nests of twisted barbwire,
or if not birds, something similar—
a coyote or your mother's hand.
These nights, you find
damp fetuses in your chest,
pull them out like dishrags,
spread them translucent on the grass.
Maybe the moon is orange,
or the creek is a long black snake,
but something loosens all the knucklebones
that have been wedged in your temples,
and you string them on a necklace,
or make a wind chime
that catches a clear new song
hissing from the star-shaped wounds.
About the author:
Annalynn Hammond's first book, Dirty Birth, was the winner of the First Annual Sundress Publications Book Contest, and will be available in Spring 2004. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in: Gargoyle Magazine, Pedestal Magazine, Stirring, 2River View, Snakeskin, Eclectica, Branches Quarterly, Poems Niederngasse, Miller's Pond, Snow Monkey and others.
For further reading:
See the complete list of work by Annalynn Hammond at 42opus. Browse the contents of 42opus Vol. 3, No. 3, where "Night Songs" ran on September 2, 2003. List other work with these same labels: poetry.
