A Daguerreotype of a discourse by Herne the hunter

Carole Webster

A discourse by
Herne the hunter:
there is a burst

of dry fingered
twigs through my
pelvis where the

genitals were strung.
I raise my finger
to point to

you – bone, oak
wood in utero forms
sculpted from

resin. Sitting on
a fabricated rock
in a daguerreotype

typified by chiaroscuro. Today
the west wind is
mercury vapourised and

now there is
only a stymied
textile

darkness – felt
covering this flat
vivarium:

Carole Webster

(the image is
positive or negative
depending on the angle

from which it
is viewed, whether
the background is lit,

or reflected
in the silver
plated copper:

please take care
the surface is
very fragile.)

These antlers
grafted onto
my skull

branched too
late into
thought –

Herne / Cernunnos;
I hunted a version
of myself.

In this arrangement
there is no bone-lodged
arrowhead or entry wound –

Carole Webster

go on, smell the dust
around me and die a little
just remember – the surface is fragile.