Tea with Witches - Kate Chadbourne

Poison or honey, without flinching
drink what they hold out to you

They hum and gasp at intervals
hand round a platter of dew drops

It's unwise to eat more than your share
or less than would sustain you

If you want to laugh, laugh
Words are slippery as frog spawn, here

If tears seize you, shed them into the open
mouth of a vernal pool

Your lace skirt is your own business
No one expects you to bring flowers

But show them the star in the toe of your stocking
or the wind curled at the tail of your eye

And you will earn the right of return,
and all the moons you can swallow

---

From the current issue of Goblin Fruit.

Books: another update

My non-work reading pace has picked up spectacularly, I see! In part, this is an effort to read or re-read particular books before giving them away as I move.

The Complete Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde: ( Were charming and surprisingly conventional )

Simon Winchester, The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictonary: ( A book I got for free at the conference at which I first gave a paper )

Tamora Pierce, Circle of Magic Quartet: ( One last re-read )

Douglas Coupland, Player One: What is to become of us?: ( I did not like this book )

Benjamin Markovits, The Syme Papers: ( I really wanted to like this book )