What use is language?
There are rituals used by squatters
in the far North, where evergreens
are their only weapons against intruders.

Stones fashioned in circles around the pit
are clues of closure and privacy.

I saw a woman once push smoke
through her feet, though
neglecting to ask how she did it,
I sat on the chopping block just admiring

the perfect way she skinned a bite of fish
off the stick with only two teeth.