The spell for protection:
hold a wren’s egg
under your tongue.
The spell for direction:
cast salt
to the four winds.
The spell for youth:
walk backwards
through a mirror.
The spell for wealth:
hold a flame
over all your clothing.
The spell for friendship:
stand outside and whistle
like a white-throated sparrow.
The spell for love:
peel pine cones until
your fingertips bleed.
The spell for courage:
throw your knife
into whitewater.
The spell for healing:
lie down in a snowfall until
drifts cover your eyes.
Janna Knittel has recently published poems in Cold Mountain Review, NEAT Magazine, and Nice Cage, as well as on poets.org and Red Bird Chapbook’s Weekly Read. She was a finalist for the 2016 Rita Dove Poetry Award. Her chapbook Fish & Wild Life is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press.