Before we begin we will unbraid our hair. We will comb it.
We will close our eyes.
We will fall backward into the Earth.
Yellow tear woman
Drink the bark tea
Like the tree-line shadow
drinks the dawn
Pour your tears into this cup
And we will smash it against the sky
Tomorrow it will rain into these wooden barrels
And together we will break the iron buckles and pull their ribs apart
And start a fire from their kindling
We are like this kindling
We are like this fire
We are like this cup
When the language is listening
We hold these stones
And their shapes will curl into lettering
The rock faces and typefaces talk through their teeth for days
And when they are done listening
We bury their teeth near where the strawberries sleep
So the people that come behind us can find the deliciousness words
So the stone friends are messengers and wordsmiths
And the groundwater is a keeper’s calling
And the children hunt for syllables from the past to put safely into their pockets as they walk and throw and walk and throw and walk and throw.
And taste the words as they go.