curse

the sink poured honey.
golden & sticky in our drinking glasses.
flies came singing & we all
plugged our ears best we could.
have your ever heard a beetle
do penance? crawling on the ceiling
to get as close to god as possible.
poured salt in rings around the beds.
somehow this was our fault. we had been
so careless in our wishing. could have
just cross-stiched our mouths shut
& let the dreams turn to yogurt.
lit all candles in bouquets of three.
the windows asked for fire. 
one of us was a witch or all of us were.
holy water in tupperware containers.
there had to be a better way. 
putting the pillow over my head
i tried to drownout the sound of pigs.
every closet had one. massive animals
with eyes full of teeth. carried a spoon
in my pocket. lost track of family members
one by one. when your house is extra-inhabited 
you can only look out for yourself.
googled to see if this was generational
or some latent haunting. had it always been
like this & i had just willfully forgotten?
swallowing honey. bathing in honey.
talking to honey. gold pools of future glass.
we could have been monsterous & wild. we could
have sat together & linked arms.
my brother is a chandelier. my father,
a dumbwaiter. only three coins left.
i pay the curse to let me sleep
just a few hours. the curse nods 
& goes to another room to tinker 
with structure. tomorrow, 
when the sun is red again, 
i will ask the curse what it would take
to become him. is a home something shed
or something eaten? sucking on a spoon
of honey. the curse slinks past
my bedroom door on all six legs.
i put a tooth beneath the pillow
just to watch it become a skull.