Danielle Pieratti

Malediction

  1. An arrow lodged under
  2. my eyelid. I cannot ignore
  3. an arrow.
  4. Nor can I forget the winter
  5. snake that wound itself
  6. around my neck.
  7. Or the space underneath
  8. my right shoulder blade,
  9. where a farmer drags
  10. a rake through his hay.
  11. In the tall grass
  12. along the side, a doe
  13. has bid her fawn to lie
  14. and wait.
  15. The fawn’s so good
  16. and still that she won’t
  17. move, even as
  18. a tractor
  19. runs her over.
  20. Now you know.
  21. Inside my body
  22. the spotted child
  23. is sleeping.