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Roots

Beside the loch, she left her bike

unlocked, and now hopes.

She will need nine blankets tonight –

the old schoolhouse has no curtains

or light. She has the red throat of love:

the last kiss at the Bahnhof

pricks. Her tyre will be flat

and she’ll have to hitch a ride

with the vicar. He will unite her with her great-

greats, reciting back to the Scottish

kings and queens, and from there –

it’s easy – all the way back to Adam.

She will ask for Eve,

and the vicar will concede, but only

this time. The master filename

will not change. His wife will ask

Who longs for you in the mornings?

Which small village owns your heart?

The girl from neither place eats

keta salmon in graveyards.

At one memorial stone

tiny blood from her knees.

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