Baldr’s Curse

He gulped a big gaze

at axe smoothed handles

heavy as the moon

shifting with cut air

The dare relied on blessing

that all his peers knew too

well into chortling invocation

him vested in obedience

Baldr hid in a clearing

masked by only eyelids

circled by broken limbs

all weapons blunted, split

Their movement ushered

prayer that the loose

tangs would forever drop

murmur with footfall

Away to warmer hearths

to hang dusty over fire

so Baldr’s frail procession

his crossroad of bruises

would disappear

as smoke in night