Upon the gurney lies the corpse

Eyes and mouth sutured

in a running line.

Putrefying flesh frozen by formaldehyde

The creature’s journey

compressed

into history’s fold.

This mammal of timid rank,

its fears

drank the last drop

of blood.

Its dreams were left

on the side of the road

like the carcass of a bird.

In that amphitheater of frozen specters –

time exists

and climbs to the corner

where the soul lives

caught between what it knew

and what it wishes to sing.