---

Tender as prey

Ensnared and wounded

Beaten with mallet

Skin torn limp

Warm and lifeless

Coating the knife

No bone left

Curating the carcass

The thickest blood

And perspiration

The hardest work

Staining the apron

The middle of nowhere

And straight ahead is nothing

The silence so loud

Leaves falling like thunder

The humid summer

Spring thrives no longer

Stare into the forest long enough

It will stare back