Inspired by Sugar, We’re Goin Down by Fall Out Boy
Up the hill, through the woods, there is a dead deer. I don’t know how long it’s been there. I parked my car down the road and walked back, keeping my distance. She and I spoke for a long time, about the end of the world, about rhythm and rhyme. Oh dear, was this more than I bargained for. Flies buzzed around the rotting carcass, the stench overwhelming. The soil already reclaimed the tail end. Oh, my lone doe, I’m dying to tell you, how heartbreaking it is to see you like this. Watch it rot, fade to dust, all I can do is stand there as it turns to rust. I’m frozen in place on a hot summer’s day. The reaper is coming for us all. If grace dies, what will become of me? I’m not God; I would’ve died in the Garden. I’m watching maggots tear apart the deer’s flesh. She’s rotting right in front of my eyes. The meat is weaker than any butcher and we all die lonely, even if we’re not alone. Is this more than you wanted to hear? Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound gross, I just wanted to tell you what I saw that day. Isn’t it messed up? How our deaths are imminent? I’m just a mere mortal, you’re just a line in a poem. We all die, all alone. Innocent or not, the wolf whistles, and we can’t atone. You’re dying right there with your tongue lolled out. A halo of flies around your head. I saw your fawn’s response a little ways up. Does he know his mother won’t ever come home? Like Jesus on Calvary, I’m watching the pure die. Her spine is visible and sun-bleached and her fur is matted with dried blood. My eyes glaze over, and I watch in horror. I wish I had my mom here. She said she’d take a bullet for me. A murky swamp is no place for a deer. Gators lurk in all bodies of water. There’s no safe place for an innocent thing. The dark creeps around every corner. Ignore your dreams because they can be nightmares. You know what they do to women there.