"Slaughterhouse" (7-Minute NaPoWriMo Poem for April 20)

Slaughterhouse




slide -- all the way to the
grave, a grading off the mount.
The sideshows of summer settle
the score. The carnies call and cull
the crowd for a willing mark. Three
tries for a dollar, and a whimper
for your rent. The lithesome treaties
walk away; the wild get wilder, all
it takes is a little show. You up
the ante. Call it a draw. While
your life chugs along at a particular
stew. Can you stir the pot forever?
Somewhere cattle are shifting, the plains
settle into snow. Your everywhere
is sudden and surrounding, the smell
of you, and fear, some kind of substance
penetrates. Waiting with the tractor,
the boards in place, the bars, the hinges,
I'd follow you anywhere. It's the story
of attraction. Now, a chute for a life,
this final squeeze into the pen.




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written in 7 minutes for National Poetry Writing Month for April 20

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