Hare Witch

After midnight put your hand on your chest
and wish.
Call then to the pull of the moon.

Wait to feel that shrink,
that all over body tingle
that takes you down.

Let the wild one come
the one that runs the fields
for the cold soil, the salted air.

The one that can smell when the ground is barren,
hear the stretch of a germinating seed.
The one that pauses to sniff longer
on nights when everything is ripening.

Over the years you will learn
where to run in the open,
how to bound a zigzag to escape,
when to lie flat and unmoving
and hold your breath.

 

Sue Finch’s debut collection, Magnifying Glass, was published in 2020. Her work has also appeared in a number of online magazines. She loves the coast, peculiar things and the scent of ice-cream freezers. You can often find her on Twitter @soopoftheday.