I’ve rehearsed this in my mind

countless times–

Put the broom or cardboard scrap

on far side of carcass

Place scoop– something thin and stiff

yet flexible, at near edge

Draw broom towards scoop–

towards myself

 

This is where the problem lies–

no matter what tool

I feel the soft roll of death-filled body

limp foot flop, rotation of tail

through glove, through broom and dustpan

into my veins, my whole being

I can’t do this

I fear my wrist might twitch the pan

popcorn creature into air

 

Once our cat left a field mouse

in the dining room midday

I ran through scenarios for hours

gathered gloves, small paper bag, old broom

but ended up hiding it beneath empty box

until my husband returned from work

to do the deed

 

Yet when he died

I took his lifeless hand directly into mine,

said goodbye, released

golden halo from finger, stayed

with him as he cooled

 

Joy Kreves

Joy Kreves is a visual artist/poet with an M.S. in Painting and a B.S. in art education from Illinois State University. She has often incorporated poems into or exhibited them alongside her artworks. Since 2021, she has been a DVP/US1 Poets member and is the current managing editor of the “US1 Worksheets” anthology. Her poems have appeared in several exhibition catalogs and “US1 Worksheets”. She has had poems published in NewVerseNews in 2024. In 2022, she had a poem at the Poetry show at Trenton Social. Kreves has hosted several “Artist Melts” events incorporating art and poetry at Suburban Frontier, her Ewing, NJ, art space.