NOTES FOR A PROFILE

Baba Yaga cannot remember
Not being Baba Yaga. Surely
She wasn't born old. Her cat
Says the two of them once
Made a clockwork lizard which sang
And did simple arithmetic. For a time,
She was available to answer prayers
Or to thwart them. Her voice
Is surprisingly soft. The souls sleeping
In the red box in her cupboard
Do not look unhappy.