mountain uncle
were you a god
your vital fluids
would turn to poison
killing those that would
drink of your bile
mountain spirit
ursa major
crescent moon
bear drained of bile
from a gall bladder
milked of medicine
cold & bitter – uncloud
an old woman’s eyes, dissolving
stones, arrest the body
from convulsion, cure
the temper of patriarchs
by clearing the liver of fire
in forests, colliers still
revere you, cover wood
in mud & brick, burning
branches until turned
to carbon, porous
light, transmuted
the artist roughs out your form
in charcoal, the alchemical,
dear animal-uncle
* The ethereal fluid that is the Greek gods’ blood.
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