Image courtesy of chrisroll/FreeDigitalPhotos.netBlack Cat/Bad Luck
For her state-wide science fair
a fourteen year old girl
boils a cat
to showcase skeletal structure in the body.
Imagine the thrash and hiss:
scalded screams, the scrape of claws on metal.
Wet fur and flesh as it softens,
the separation of meat
from bone.
As the water cools,
the contents of the vat slide and
thud, tipped heavy into the sink.
Taking a knife to pull apart
muscles, muzzle, triangle flaps of ear,
full moon eyes shrunken and dull,
she cuts away the collar,
drops it into an open garbage bag
alongside the carcass and entrails.
Born and raised in Vancouver, Mika is a local writer and the newestmember of Wolf Mountain Writing Collective. She studied both theatreand creative writing at the University of Victoria, her focus in theWriting Department on poetry and scriptwriting. Mika loves bicycles,the ocean, and oversteeping her tea.
