fluid ivory
to
within the imaginal
or deep within the valley
of its books
mahogany gondola chair
for green leather
or maroonings
semiosis
the ducking stool
vellum a relation
front or back
to decide
each hologram
placed before the jungle
in silence
the hands clasped
then laid palms up
and somewhere
in the library
a scene
the youth must grapple the snout
of the enormous dog
and hold it closed with both hands
wrap his or her legs around the raging torso
and fall
then tear into the neck of the beast
with the curved metal thorn worn at the end of the chin
science
is not
a fiction.
