"Desideratum"

Today, I want to think
about the clean slate of soil
in the garden bed, and the old cat

stretched to his max
on the living room floor.
When will I tire

of his incalcitrant incontinence,
scoop him off the hard wood
and drop his fluff into the grass outside?

Does he think about this too
or obsess about squirrels?
If I leave him to his exile

how many carcasses will I discover
in various states of visceral integrity?
Where is the integrity in viscera?

Under the skin that holds us, the heart,
a pulping mass not so different
from a butcher’s wrap in bloodied twine.

I will plant seeds and try to stop thinking,
cover the dirt with white gauze.
Anything to stop the raucous birds from digging.

D. Dina Friedman’s newest books are the poetry collection Here in Sanctuary—Whirling, (Querencia Press) and the short-story collection Immigrants (Creators Press), which was first runner up in the short-story category for the Eric Hoffer Award. Her previous books include two YA novels, Escaping Into the Night (Simon and Schuster) and Playing Dad’s Song (Farrar Straus Giroux) and one book of poetry Wolf in the Suitcase (Finishing Line Press). Dina has published in over a hundred literary journals including Rattle, Salamander, The Sun, Mass Poetry, Crab Orchard Review, Cider Press Review, Lilith, and Rhino. She has received two Best of the Net and four Pushcart Prize nominations.