Tales From The Vultures Beak

Goblin life

I am a goblin.

I hiss at the sun!!!

With care I touch moss…….

And forage for shiny gifts!

What a gosh darn good day.

 

photo by rosycheeks-softheart on tumblr

Moss

Moss grows steadily

Moss moss moss moss moss moss moss

I love touching moss

Feast

 Hazy morning

with ease, the great vulture swoops

above the carnage

 

Despair

My stomach drops, 

As I stare into the forest,

At the pawprints,         

At the burning trees,

At the shower of scornful embers

My claws now black from soot

As I run from disaster.

 

Crow

Icy afternoon

A single, shifty crow flaps

whilst watching the worm

 

I hiked up the sun-dappled mountainside, the morning mist speckled the ferns around me-

the only sounds my boots pressing against the dampened earth and the trickle of the stream next to me. Almost there I thought to myself. 

I took a moment to look around as I stepped into the clearing. It was warmer here. The land was beran of the once dense trees I had walked through to find my way here. The soiled grass was pressed down where many animals had come to take a drink, shortly before my arrival. The thin layer of mud nearly made me slip, leaving me breathless. Slowly, I stepped into the marshy pool, careful not to get any of the mucky water into my boots. I waded across, cautiously avoiding the small hills of dear dung around me.  

Eventually, I made it to the small island in the middle of the pond. Atop it was the young conifer that sprouted through the deer carcass’s ribs I had found a year earlier. I unpacked my lunch, partaking in the PB&J I threw together only a few hours earlier, then turned back to the body. I crouched down, careful not to fall back into the mosquito-larvae-infested muck. 

I marveled at what lay before me, half buried in the clag; the antlers stabbed out at me like claws through fragile flesh. I ran my fingers along the off-white point, gentle so as to not cause any more fractures in the already-chipping horn. Slowly, I began to uproot the skull. After about ten minutes of fighting the earth’s suction on the head, I pulled it from the island, greedily. 

Eventually, the skull came out with a noisy pop, covered in deep scratches. Only after removing it completely from the mud, did I notice the large claws under the skull, bone attached and all. In a single movement I swooped up the claws and put them into my pocket. I stood again, doing a walk around the massive skeleton, observing the scrapes into the mossy ribs, the rodent bites where they had dug into the banquet, months before. Golden mushroom empires sprouted among the gaps in the bones. 

I imagined the fungal kingdom that lay beneath my feet, how the saprophyte embraced those lost to the world, allowing more to grow. I reflected upon the trees, bushes, even the pond scum that I tromped my way through to get here. I shook my head, the thought drifting away with the cool breeze. I made my way back to where the chest cavity had rotted away, I peered inside, pleasantly surprised at what I found. 

A small nest rested on the ground inside. Observing the four to five brown speckled eggs that sat cozily in the feather lined nest, I hardly noticed the mother, until she screeched in my direction. I laughed at the dark bird, and almost backed off, until I noticed the slithering beside me. I turned to see the plump garter snake slithering through a hole in the bones besides me. Before thinking, I gently picked up the snake, waded back across the swamp. Letting it back into the forest. I mumbled “sorry” with slight melancholy, as he slithered away. 

After grabbing my gear, and saying goodbye to the still shrieking mother, I made my way down the mountain, holding neither skull nor ribs but possessing a memory to keep forever.

photo credit: witchys-stuff on tumblr