Work Text:
Scarlet against the frost, I see the berries fall
The crows gather them from the branches
And the branches lie still upon the ground.
What shelter lives for me now that she is gone?
My rowan-tree.
Marli, where are you now? A thousand nests
Are lined with your bones. The crows caw
From the branches and deep within the ground.
What shelter is this warren where we slumber?
Closing our eyes.
The dew lies silver on the grass. Brambles taunt
The rabbit as it runs and leaps, startling the crows
To flight. Daybreak tightens around us like a noose.
What shelter is this sky? This life?
Frith’s sun is red.
Frost in my veins, and crow-song on my breath
I bite and kick to no avail, tearing the ground.
Where, oh where, is my rowan-tree?
I will follow you to Inle, Marli, to the shelter of my burrow.
Are we not already home?