dissection

tw: animal death - had this one rattling around my brain for a while. I often think about the cats, rabbits, fish, that contributed to my degree. sometimes I struggle to justify it to myself.

we were given a choice:

cat, or rabbit.

either way, flesh must be cut.

twenty students,

and twenty corpses.

this is what we’re here for, after all

our parents and our teachers and the government and

the cat shelter

have sacrificed so much

for us to look into these glossy eyes

and stack organs on the table like pages

of a violent manuscript.

I, and my fellow soft hearts,

choose the rabbit, thinking it

“the easier choice”.

we did not grow up

knowing rabbits with names

and personalities

like the orange tomcats

and tuxedo queens

that prowled our streets

and childhood bedrooms

and now lie cold on wooden boards

for the sake of our education.

after the hour,

blood stains the sleeves of our crisp white labcoats,

bought just two weeks ago,

a deep red ochre.

a lesson learned -

it is unclear who chose cat

and who chose rabbit

and who believes they made

“the easier choice”.

either way, flesh has been cut.

next year, they will dissect mice instead,

and there will be no choice.