CARNIVARIOUS CARCINOMA
CARNIVARIOUS CARCINOMA
by Casey Bush
potholes filled with meat pies, something’s eating me
entering a 24 hour mandatory headlight zone
seditious sheep in a cattle car destined for dreamland
spinal shudders replace electrons in the atomic clock
licking bloody lips howling at the Harvest Moon
shrieking private ditties, dodging official duties
hyenas feast all week on a single zebra carcass
while the stripes persist for several months
A gruesomely fleshed-out portrayal of cancer from the inside, served up with various animal images. “Potholes filled with meat pies” must be what the body looks like to cancer cells–if they saw as we do. And that’s the terror of this poem: seeing, feeling what’s going on inside the cancer victim from the victim’s perspective.
There’s lots to like about this, but I especially enjoy Casey capitalizing Harvest Moon and nothing else.