Animal Kingdom

To watch a couple hold
hands is to provoke the

lions which thunder next
to the aortic valve. The

whole kingdom Animalia
riots inside our torsos,

in fact, the olfactory
senses of its members

attuned to joy. After
the big cats surface

from one's blood, the
lesser orders come: the

caimans, the pigeons, the
sugar ants pouring out

of your esophagus and
your mouth. It unwinds

like a time lapse of
decay. Break your sternum

and out flow the wasps
who hum your envy.