rough and tough

My husband died and
I began eating meat again.
The world is kill
or be killed.

Like a 15 year old boy,
my best words are 'fuck it'.
Howl at the moon,
Sleep with the deer.

Stemming from a line of
toughness
roughness
pickled livers
spanish flu immigrants,
a nail studded 2 by 4
in the concrete lot.

Like dressing beef jerky
in long blonde hair
and pretty pink blush.
Master's degrees in
the art of calming down.

Give me a hickory stick to bite.
Hang the placenta from the ceiling.
Display the raining blood.

broken breaths

when the wind blows
when the river shakes
knowns become unknowns
and your breath breaks

hold tight to the center
hold tight to the floor
blades spine your neck
lava bursts from your pores

milktoast mornings
charred ash fights
black and white birds circle
deleting day and night

weaving circles
of holy dread
she mends her wings
with broken breaths