Gutted

I laid the white bellied fish down

With my whole hand 

On the canvas covered table 

Under the cold light 

And the harsh shadows 

From the branches over my lonely head

Making a precise slice like the sharp

Line of a fresh hard pencil on thick paper

Letting the water run through the hose

As we made the necessary extraction

Hot blood flooded over my entirety

As I accepted this harsh turn

This stop sign the locomotive 

As I looked up and collided

Won’t know until I awaken, 

Wash my face, sweep the floor

Have I slid safely under the cars

Or been completely obliterated 

Never never never

Never never never never never

As there is rock in the soil

And an uprooted evergreen still grows

The mountain goat is steady on the face

While the bald eagle 

Makes a rare appearance

Cover these shoulders and these eyes 

With the long blast of the shower

Comforted only by the slow 

Dying stink bug on the window pane

As this page becomes wet

Streaked with ink stains