ODIN AND THE HEAD OF MÍMIR

2014
Sun Yung Shin

Mímir, the rememberer, the wise one
His severed head foretold the future
 
O heavy wealth
Skull, strange ivory
Dark overgrown apple
If we could wear that mask and its neck ending in rubble and red ruin
 
In the future, there will be no more extinctions
In the future, the bees will all return and carpet the air with their lace and blur
The bombs will dismantle themselves, return to the earth as iron and copper
 
In the future, Mímir tells us, jailers will unlock all the cells
In the future, there will be no need for mass graves and war tribunals
No brothers will denounce their brothers
No parents will sell their children
There will be no twelve-year old brides walking their fingers blindly over their own faces, newly unfamiliar, after their hasty weddings