I light a cigarette with a t light.
It is all that she has.

She reaches across the nest. I say,
I’m gonna dig myself out of this castle.

She sways, impassively, but to me it’s
more like a swinging gavel.

I brace. Hold my breath.
Nights of before force to mind.

I hear the crickets chirping.
But she nods. She nods.

She nods.
It was all that she needed to know.

She said yes.

It was oats and barley.