Kris Saknussemm

Kris is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area but for many years has lived in Australia and the Pacific Islands. A painter as well as writer, his work has appeared in such publications as The Boston Review, The Hudson Review, The Antioch Review, River Styx, ZYZZYVA, New Letters, Prairie Schooner and Nimrod, to name a few. He was a Fellow at the MacDowell Colony in 2004 and his second novel is scheduled for publication in 2008. For more information see www.saknussemm.com or www.zanesvillethenovel.com

Betel Nut

A chain of crocodile teeth hung

around his neck, his own teeth gummed

to bloody berries as if dangling from his scraggy beard.

His ribs were scarlet with ochre

and his right claw-hand gripped a long needle-pointed

dagger shaped from the shinbone of a cassowary.

He pointed the dagger straight at me

and then asked if I knew who had won

the rugby match between Australia and New Zealand.