8      Precious, little rock

Before Alan dies I take the knife and head home

As the clouds fall over the rocks I hope the devil

will rest—so small an ask for the next part

He sleeps with everyone in the house—it is very

popular—but then Blackbeard fuels every brave blade

by shooting up the insomniacs with his madness

In Turkey the wells tremble in the north and 

the water rises heating up wringing hands

from which the Lord removes shameful gloves

The water covers that northern house now

the winged old music and the ignorant Yeti

leave—for this is the day of their demise

(Geoffrey Mark Matthews 21 May 2022)

9      Corpus Callosum,

A quartet of days live beyond the firmament,

For each one a wolf howls in a certain harmony,

Whilst an expert in festivities provides sleep for the occasion,

In autumn I learned that leaping has a certain power,

In winter I shrank from that dreadful baying,

In spring I met a maiden called Beth,

Yet by summer her shade grew so long it left me,

All wolves know to fear the marksman,

All marksmen know to fear the bullroarer,

That ally of all beasts who makes the earth convulse,

A proud God with four hands caught in eternal gesture,

His agent, the polestar guides the way of all things,

Four score times I listened for these days,

Four more times I slept in all ways.