tragedy on rt. 30
the head of a deer (six-point buck) lolled out of the truck bed. the headlights illuminated his corpse. he stared into my face with frozen eyes. moisture still clung to his nose, shining dully in the sickly artificial light. blood flowed from his wound, down his face, to the cold earth below. at my feet.
i fumbled for slippery breaths that slid from my lungs' g(r)asp like fish. i wanted so badly to hold him as his still-cooling blood saturated me, and my tears his fur. to cradle and rock him. to make the world, and the end, less cruel for him.
tears trapped inside of me flowed and rolled and swelled within my chest, never touching my face with their bitter grace, as i watched his carriage float away, his stilled gaze growing distant in the dark.
i fumbled for slippery breaths that slid from my lungs' g(r)asp like fish. i wanted so badly to hold him as his still-cooling blood saturated me, and my tears his fur. to cradle and rock him. to make the world, and the end, less cruel for him.
tears trapped inside of me flowed and rolled and swelled within my chest, never touching my face with their bitter grace, as i watched his carriage float away, his stilled gaze growing distant in the dark.