amateur taxidermy 

you do what you can with the body.
salt & smoke. holding on to the ears.
replacing eyes with gumballs.
taking the guts wherever you can.
into the sky. into the mouths of birds.
i used to believe in preservation.
that a body could be held. lie in state
like a saint. now, i believe in meaning-making.
sewing ceiling with marigolds. conjuring symbols
from fresh earth. wind chimes of bones. 
the hardest part is making the pelt
look like the animal once did. running.
climbing a golden sock pile. muscle
& blood. a remnant can never be
that which it is the fragment of. 
this is part of the definition & yet 
i labor. kneel in the rib cage 
of another boy, saying, "give me 
your teeth." he is just like me only 
wind turned his face into a plum tree.
forest fire that made each of us
leather shoes. i walked out among flames.
returned again to carry out carcasses. 
so often we say "rebuild" we think 
"replica." i mean memorial. i mean 
the skin is still here to be tended.