mildew

i mowed the lawn until it cried out.
we were selling our souls for a discount.
buy one & get one half off. 
a half a soul is a tuesday. i am
setting the fire alarms on fire.
who knows if we will survive 
if there is a glitch. i don't need to know
there is mildew in the basement.
sometimes a shut door is a mercy.
i spent years inside every door
that would have me. the figure
in the hallway. a ghost without 
a ghost. when we are visited 
it is best to welcome whatever comes
or so i tell myself. the portal is
just as mundane as a dishwasher.
there is hell right on the other side.
i don't fear places like that. 
i am a witch before i am a gender.
scraping fungus from the wall
to pray for more teeth. i want a sharp row
like a sea monster. i can bleed the ocean dry.
i can crack the planets like eggs 
& bathe in their shimmering yolks.
i do not need a clean house. i need
a knife & a yard full of goats.
i need a man who is just passing through.
tell him the basement has
his name written on the walls.
turning on a radio & hearing
my own voice sparkling. she is long dead.
i keep her salamander tongue
in my purse. sometimes it comes alive
& demands we collect quarters
along the side of the road.