I. What the Women Did

Two women crawl on the grass. They’re featureless, completely white like overexposed photographs. Fox heads lie near them. “Foxes forgive us,” they cry, “we are bleached with fear. We killed you for our own amusement. Our shame has disfigured us, taken away our individuality. We just wanted to do something different today and now our minds and hearts burn.” “You wanted to be exotic,” the fox heads say. “You wanted to be different and impressive. Now you have killed us and wear us like a costume.” The air is full of fear chemicals. They cover the earth. Blue angels rise from caves and hover over the foxes' heads, playing them like a xylophone. Their efforts fail to bring the foxes back to life. The angels retreat to their activities of telling jokes and playing gin rummy. Overcome by anxiety, the two women who killed the foxes writhe in agony. Crawling in circles, rocking. They tell the foxes to please die. Please don’t talk anymore. But the foxes never really die and the women must listen to them for eternity.

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II. The Hyena's Joke

With my rosy flesh I loll about, napkin in lap. My hands and face are shiny with prime rib grease, bald eagle flesh, lion with butter, half eaten remains of a hyena. Broccoli and kale--this seems very unappetizing. How dare the maid bring me such objects! My lips shrivel at the thought. I fit myself inside the carcass of the hyena. Naturally, I laugh hysterically. I rub myself with the hyena grease, squeezing its heart and with my teeth I tear at its liver. The hyena speaks, saying, “Oh, hungry woman, the tide seethes in like a dead body, carrying its burden of white roses.” I smell myself and gag. Stammering, I step out of his body. But! I grow spotted fur and develop a snout with sharp canines. Memories of my mother and siblings from the savannah come back to me. I feel the urgency of our hunts, for we are nearly always on the verge of starvation. I fall down on four legs and laugh.

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Kim Silva, she/her, lives in Rhode Island. In a two-year span, her poems have been published in thirty-six journals such as Unbroken, Gone Lawn, Rhode Island Bards’ Anthology, and others. She has a MFA in Painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design. She was also nominated for “Best of the Net 2023″, and for the “Science Fiction and Fantasy Rhysling Poetry Award 2024.” She is vegan for the animals.