Dissection 15

60 3 4
                                    

1.

Your specimen:

the cat.

He lies, a stretched out

blob of

whirring, whizzing particles:

You can’t see them –

he can.

2.

His fur is

dried old carpet

left out on a front lawn:

homeless,

floorless;

waiting to be claimed.

3.

His eyes are

blank marbles

flicked by sticky fingers

in a game.

You won them

by cheating,

and stole them but they

turned to mush

in your hands, they

fell through your fingers, and

stained them with purple:

it would not wash off.

It grew:

an omnipresent reminder

trickling down your arms,

pooling at your elbows.

4.

You raise the scalpel:

it is a crescent moon

speckling down to

illicit behaviour

below.

5.

The portraits on the walls

applaud

when you make the first

CUT.

and reveal the

gooey caramel

dripping, circulating, inside.

It sticks to

the blade, forming

clumps of purple

that harden to a

crystallised-honey form.

6.

Later you sleep

with the cat;

he lies on your bed

and purrs

(does he purr?)

and you label the jars:

“Dissection 15”.

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