SUBJECT>Roadkill POSTER>Mike H EMAIL>m.hession@salford.ac.uk DATE>1108568411 IP_ADDRESS>146-87-34-37.salford.ac.uk PREVIOUS> NEXT> 83468 83474 83480 83505 83520 IMAGE> LINKNAME> LINKURL>

The neck, unvital, now only lolls ridiculous,
doubled back against a torso skeined with roadside sludge:
the tongue, too dry for grooming, hangs obscene.
Fur flickers in the wake of passing trucks.

Insulated in my glass and metal haven
I am shocked to come across a thing
so stopped.
I drive on, relive the glimpse
and wonder at its story.

But a fox is a thing without allegory,
as a car is a thing without a soul:
so I, burdened by both, shift gear, change lanes,
put distance between me and a thing too dead.