Soothe

By Erin Winship

lay me down on the itchy green grass in the
middle of a wooded path where i can look
up at the sky and watch the clouds and
stars dance as the wind blows comforting
and cool air around and past me and as i
lay there please let the creaks and groans
of old trees keep me company as i wait for
the animals to come and finally take their
share of my nutritious skin and organs and
when the feeding has begun let me feel the
sharp teeth of the red fox tear into the meat
on my right arm ripping a large strip of skin
and chewing loudly and messily near my ear
and i dig my fingernails into the packed dirt as
the small rabbits who lay on my torso slowly
tunnel though my liver and stomach and as
the cardinals rip out my hair for their nests
i lift my hand to pet the gray squirrel’s head
as he sits on my collarbone while eating away
at my chin and i squirm as the slimy earth-
worms find their new homes in the cave of
my ear and snuggle into my plush eardrum
and when i look down at my body to see
blood and torn flesh i can only smile and
slowly close my eyes as the beavers tear my
bones from their sockets to use in their dam
and i slowly close my eyes as i let the animals
take as much as they need and let me feel
every pain and sensation from their feasting.