“Roe”
watch me fawn for predators
the moment my legs lurch from the womb
as performance and preservation blur
bowing until my nose touches the floor
they say
I should be grateful for the attention
once an undomesticated kid, now a dutiful doe
memorizing how to play dead
Oh, yes, I am grateful indeed
the inciting incident came after
hunters measured me for their mantlepiece
critiquing the difference between bandsaws and hacksaws
deliberations neglected as they sensed movement
they say
I knew what I was doing on that backroad
where headlights and stage lights look the same
just another corpse evaporating against asphalt
Oh, yes, I am grateful indeed
