Helen Marshall

Aurora-nominated poet Helen Marshall (manuscriptgal.com) is an author, editor, and self-proclaimed bibliophile. Her poetry has been published in ChiZine, NFG, Abyss & Apex and the long-running Tesseracts anthology series. "Mist and Shadows," published originally in Star*Line, appeared in The 2006 Rhysling Anthology: The Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Poetry of 2005." She recently released a collection of poems entitled Skeleton Leaves from Kelp Queen Press and her collection of short stories Hair Side, Flesh Side is forthcoming from ChiZine Publications in 2012. Currently, she is pursuing a Ph. D in medieval studies at the University of Toronto, for which she spends a great deal of her time staring at fourteenth-century manuscripts. Unwisely. When you look into a book, who knows what might be looking back.

Strict Nominalism

by

Helen Marshall

The foolish witch speaks with a drunk tongue.
Barley malt is best for bleeding, she says, and for lies.

Let me hear with my tongue
taste the words in my ear
where they are foreign,
unwelcome.
Like Gretl in the cottage
mouth gripped in sweetness.

The wise witch speaks with a drunk tongue.
Wisdom is barley-born and full of secrets.

In principio erat verbum.1