Hatchlings

You knew her
from the skin's mottled memory 
of scales 

late Jurassic 
air
around the jaws 
stippling hymns
for hunger
with
a broken tooth 
stylus 
half-lost
inside a prey 

wishbone
worn between 
the neck & 
the breast 

an amulet
of meteoric ash
to guard a clutch
of eggs
inside
her pelvis

the earth shakes 
not 
by her feet 

but the pounding 
heart
in wait.