Bits of Animal

Last night
I pulled
a small
jaw-bone
out of my
mouth,
bits of animal
speaking
in pieces.

A carved awl
of caribou antler
dreaming
through
my mouth,
as if it
was trying
to
stich
these
fragments of
being back together.

The tooth
of
an otter;
the skull
of an
owl.

What do
they want
from me?

A whale-bone
comb;
the toes
of
a beaver,
carried me
through
that
night
of snow
and ice.