Poem
By Carl Rakosi
The ants came
to investigate
the dead
bull snake,
nibbled
at the viscera
and hurried off
with full mouths
waving wild
antenae.
Moths alighted,
beetles swarmed,
flies buzzed
in the stomach.
Three crows
tugged and tore
and flew off
to their oak tree
with the skin.
In every house
men, women and children
were chewing beef.
Who was it said
“The wonder of the world
is its comprehensibility”?
Copyright Credit: Carl Rakosi, “Poem” from The Collected Poems of Carl Rakosi (Orono: The National Poetry Foundation, 1986). Copyright © 1986 by Carl Rakosi. Reprinted with the permission of Marilyn J. Kane.
Source: The Collected Poems of Carl Rakosi (National Poetry Foundation, 1986)