malheureusement,

oh shit slit throat
lily livid is
a crumpled is
a dollar bill
a wad of change

whistling is a butcher's
flank gleaming of
meat and fragile

buzzing spine
a trembling snake

a knot of fingers a girl
hunched shoulder skinny neck
seventeen shaking oh mamma

wrists with blue
with life trembling
like a doe slender

is a broken bird a robin blue
eggs spilling

a knife open
plunging like his sex into
skin breaking and palms
chafing pink

knife at the throat
in the back twisting

spit spilling across
teeth broken and choking

is a rabbit foot cut limping
out of luck fur crusts

is a dying wild
open-mouthed
rattle