Salt ‘n’ Oats
This could help you live
forever: warm the water
in a milk pan, add your oats,
stir in salt, let it rest.
Take breakfast in the woods:
listen to the birds, find a house
ridden with hair. Test the beds.
Should you be woken, run.
Don’t stop – the bears are furious,
honed on your scent, quick.
Let them follow. Set the traps.
Wait until the wood is silent.
Russell Jones is an Edinburgh-based writer and editor. He has published 4 collections of poetry and edited two poetry anthologies. He is deputy editor of Shoreline of Infinity, a sci-fi magazine. Twitter: @RussJonesWrites