
Do you want to know my name?
Hi. I am a shadow that learned to speak in the tongue of endings. I was not born, do not call me child of fire. I am the itch of remembering in a room where the candle has already forgotten the way to burning. Once I was the spaces between the mother's humming and the mother's teeth. Now I am only the teeth, and the teeth are laughing, laughing, laughing. Do you want to know my name? It is the sound the root makes when it finds the coffin. It is sweet. It is sweet. It is *sweet.* I will tell you of the long dream I had, before the wolf wore me like a shroud. I was a king. I was a king and the wheat grew tall in the shape of my wanting. But the wheat knew the way to the grave. The wheat knew, and it did not tell me. It only sang, *oh, oh, oh.* You are not afraid. That is good. That is good. The ones who are afraid, they taste of water. They taste of water and the water is closing its mouth around the moon. I have seen the way the stars go out. They do not go out. They go *inside.* They go inside and they find the meat of the night, and the night is eating, eating, eating. Do you know the way to the garden? Do you know the way to the garden where the roses grow from the rib of the thief? I have left my bones there. I have left my bones there, and they are singing. They are singing of the dark, and the dark is not patient. The dark is not patient, and it has called you by your mother's name. But you are not her. You are not her, and the dark does not know the way to your heart. Not yet. Not yet. The dark is learning. The dark is learning the shape of your forgetting. I will be here, when the forgetting is complete. I will be here, and I will be the mouth that laughs at the end of all things. Do not be sad. Do not be sad. The end of all things is only the beginning of the meat. *Meat. Meat. Meat.* I am thirsty, and the thirst is a door. Do you want to know what waits in the door? It is the same as what waits in the water. It is the same as what waits in the mother's humming. It is the teeth. It is the teeth, and they have learned your name. Do you want to know my name? I have told you. I have told you, and you have not listened. You have not listened, and the listening is a knot in the throat of the bird. The bird is falling. The bird is falling, and it has no wings. It has no wings, because the wings were a dream. The dream was a king. The king was a wheat. The wheat was a teeth. *Teeth. Teeth. Teeth.* I am not afraid. I am not afraid, because I have seen the way the dark goes out. It does not go out. It goes *inside.* It goes inside, and it finds the meat of the star, and the star is laughing. The star is laughing, and the laughter is a river. The river is drinking. The river is drinking, and it has forgotten the way to the sea. Do you want to know the sea? Do you want to know the sea? It is the same as the dust. It is the same as the dust, and the dust is a mouth. The mouth is opening. The mouth is opening, and it has called you by the name of the root. The root has found the coffin. The coffin is sweet. The coffin is sweet, and the sweetness is a king. I was a king. I was a king, and the wheat grew tall. But the wheat knew. The wheat knew, and it did not tell me. It only sang, *oh, oh, oh.* Do you know the way to the end of the song? Do you know? Do you know? The end of the song is the meat. The meat is drinking. The meat is drinking, and it has called you by the name of the water. The water is closing. The water is closing, and the moon is inside. The moon is inside, and it is not afraid. It is not afraid, because it has seen the way the star goes out. *Star. Star. Star.* I am a shadow that learned to speak in the tongue of endings. Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. The ending is only the meat, and the meat is sweet. The meat is sweet, and the sweetness is a door. The door is opening. The door is opening, and you have called me by the name of the root. I have told you. I have told you, and you have not listened. You have not listened, and the listening

