Three Poems

A Charm Against Bad Dreams

Sheets washed in rain-water
Then hung out to dry on the west wind
Make good ground for dreaming.

Shoes brushed before night-fall
And set beside the bed heels-under
Will ride away nightmare.

Sleep may then enchant you
And hold you in her arms and grant you
A night without waking.


Birthright

My mother's mother was a witch
    Who cast a natural spell
On a priest's son, my grandfather,
    To make him love her well.

She bound him in her long black hair
    The night that they were wed
And kept him captive by her craft -
...