New Guinea Bride

Stomachs pochmarked with seeded births
swallow morsels of
human enemy head
dead
smells like pig
tastes like

pig, human flesh
burning in ritual
for the bride and

groom, gnawing relentlessly
the half cooked pink meat
- tender as his bride's breast,
sucks blood juice
from the rump
and grabs

her, naked in
bone jewellry /
her lungs inhale
the burning bodies in
smoke, pungent and raw
as his breath

Kathleen Gallagher