The Specialist's Hat - Kelly Link
The specialist's hat makes a noise like an acouti;
a collared peccary;
a tapir;
a rabbit;
a squirrel;
a curassow;
moans like a whale in the water;
moans like the wind in my wife's hair;
makes a noise like a snake.
I have hung the hat of the specialist upon my wall,
widdershins around the chimneys once, twice, again.
The spokes click like a clock on the bicycle;
they tick down the days of a life of a man.
Dreary and dreadful beats the sea at the shore.
Ghastly and dripping is the mist at my door.
The clock in the hall is chiming, one, two, three, four...
the morning comes not, no, never, no more.
a collared peccary;
a tapir;
a rabbit;
a squirrel;
a curassow;
moans like a whale in the water;
moans like the wind in my wife's hair;
makes a noise like a snake.
I have hung the hat of the specialist upon my wall,
widdershins around the chimneys once, twice, again.
The spokes click like a clock on the bicycle;
they tick down the days of a life of a man.
Dreary and dreadful beats the sea at the shore.
Ghastly and dripping is the mist at my door.
The clock in the hall is chiming, one, two, three, four...
the morning comes not, no, never, no more.