Your lantern passes overhead A trembling sun above the sedge I flatten where the mud lies still And count your pulse against my gills No branch snaps No water stirs I do not kill What I can keep I teach the lungs To drink the deep Peat has packed my ribcage tight Lamprey mouths infest my hide Ten wet fingers, twice too long Drag my belly through the scum Your ankle opens like a seam I pull the tendon Hear you scream I leave the tongue I need the cries To bait the rest And watch them die Knee reversed Jaw unstrung Black mud packed Beneath the tongue BOGCREEPER! GRINNING IN THE REEDS! BOGCREEPER! CULTIVATING SCREAMS! The mire won’t devour fast I make the final moment last BOGCREEPER! THE FEN HAS LEARNED TO FEED! Bite down Keep your bubbles small Your friends are near Let them hear you call I pinch your voice from out your throat And test it on a higher note Your comrades gather at the bank Six warm shapes above the black I call them close With borrowed breath They follow you Into my depth One I drown One I drain One I loose To spread my name Skin comes free With patient hands I stretch it warm Across my glands I thread your lips Upon my jaw And wear the face Your comrades saw Vertebrae grind Hips divide Your stolen outline Fits my hide BOGCREEPER! GRINNING IN THE REEDS! BOGCREEPER! CULTIVATING SCREAMS! The mire won’t devour fast I make the final moment last BOGCREEPER! THE FEN HAS LEARNED TO FEED! Don’t turn around I’m wearing him now My final prize Your bitter, vile demise!
