A life hauls itself uphill br through hoar-mist steaming br the sun's tongue licking br leaf upon leaf into stricken liquid br When? When? cry the soothseekers br but time is a bloodshot eye br seeing its last of beauty its own br foreclosure br a bloodshot mind br finding itself unspeakable br What is the last thought? br Now I will let you know? br or, Now I know? br (porridge of skull-splinters, brain tissue br mouth and throat membrane, cranial fluid) br br Shattered head on the breast br of a wooded hill br Laid down there endlessly so br tendrils soaked into matted compose br became a root br torqued over the faint springhead br groin whence illegible br matter leaches: worm-borings, spurts of silt br volumes of sporic changes br hair long blown into far follicles br blasted into a chosen place br br Revenge on the head (genitals, breast, untouched) br revenge on the mouth br packed with its inarticulate confessions br revenge on the eyes br green-gray and restless br revenge on the big and searching lips br the tender tongue br revenge on the sensual, on the nose the br carrier of history br revenge on the life devoured br in another incineration br br You can walk by such a place, the earth is br made of them br where the stretched tissue of a field or woods br is humid br with beloved matter br the soothseekers have withdrawn br you feel no ghost, only a sporic chorus br when that place utters its worn sigh br let us have peace br br And the shattered head answers back br br And I believed I was loved, I believed I loved br Who did this to us?br br Adrienne Richbr br