'Spell To Bind Your Lover' & 'How To Curse Your Mother': Two Poems by J. Summerisle Wilson

SPELL TO BIND YOUR LOVER
I take my lover to the barley house
and bid him lie in the long grass
'til it dies. I give him
a girl's heart, a new-born lamb,
and lift them – make them
one –
Blood scours his teeth as the lamb
screams, too small to stand
the passions of a man's pulse,
too weak to stomach a woman's
grief. A human heart lies
in its cavity. Its lungs
clasp empty air.
I dress my lover
in the beards of barley.
Thread their thorns through his eyes
like weeping. Make a meal
of the husks when we wed.
HOW TO CURSE YOUR MOTHER
You mustn't sleep.
Run your left hand
through the wheat
in widdershins
while there is no
sun to see. When your ring
finger lands itself a loop,
snatch it up. Hold it
in your mouth night
and day. Think strong
thoughts. Avoid
those who pray.
Ruminate.
Steep for 48
in your spit.
Clear your head
of all but intent.
After two days passing
wheat spikes in your kiss,
cut them. Use your mother's scissors.
Wash them in your spit.
Weigh them. Take them to the graveyard,
waste them. Give a weight
of stones that's equal.
Bury them with your wheat
& mark the place with hair.
Bite your nails. Crush no more
than four snails in the dirt.
Walk the long way home.
J. Summerisle Wilson currently lives in the East Midlands of England & has appeared in various online journals. Her work has been nominated for Best of the Net 2019 and a full list of publications can be found at jenniferwilsonlit.wordpress.com. She may also be found on Twitter @_dead_swans
Image: 'Witches and Demons Creating a Circle', Nathaniel Crouch, The Kingdom of Darkness, 1688.