Hemwick Charnel
Soak in autumn evening air, and the sky
tastes back. Travel by crow mouth as it drafts
on woodsmoke past marrow ash and smashed
stelae, garland these nights where torches dip low
to bodies, to skin crawling from bone. Moon falls
damp on the tools, on the work, and the light
is seasoned with birds. None starve here. All
keep clear of the blood, the beasts, the bruised
hands reaching hungry up, up –
Jeremy Rock’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in Ninth Letter, The Shore, Stonecoast Review, Cider Press Review, Sugar House Review, Bear Review, and elsewhere.
Beaver Magazine 