We Save Six Feet

Brandon uses his sharp shovel

hits root & runs through it

shifts bark & dirt, rebounds

& rings when rock is struck.

He doesn't go too deep today.

Doesn't need to. Instead thinks

about the missing towel earlier & his training

Our old way was to pile them in the truck

but folks mind the bodies

& then the phone call

How's this for your driving; my son

looked into the eyes of something dead

for the first time.

Dug now about two foot down

he drags their bodies from the back:

fawn & fawn's hind-quarters

& on the way to the pull-off

bloated raccoon, sun hot paws

& belly ready to burst.

He places them in the earth,

lays the legs where they'd lie

& does not shy from replacing dirt.

What you don't understand is

you drive lined by narrow graves

& have helped to fill them.