Sts. Montanus, Luicus, & Companions (beheaded with five other martyrs, 259)

clean cut. the eyes

roll. what I think about

when I think about

beheading.

do the veins, shell

shocked, hold the blood

for a moment? stutter

and then flow? does

the spine reach out,

cry out? the tongue

must bite itself,

filling the mouth

with a lush velvet.