Dressed for dinner
We sat at a white plastic card table
Waving at flies, dipping fire-roasted meat
Into spice powder with greasy fingers
When a fat ram, headless and skinless came
In the company of excited men
To be strung just off Alex's shoulder
From a handy hook we had not noticed.
I had the best view of the delivery.
The man pierced the leg tendon and it swung
Glossy, white, wet. Balls of sheep s*** still clung
To the viscera. Blood dripped from the neck.
Shameless and exposed.
Then the ax came out. In a few wet "thuks"
Intestines, liver and heart spilled out
Into waiting hands, and the ax worked on
Splitting the neck, chest and pelvis. Limbs splayed
Like the wings of a butterfly. Dangling
Two big balls were the last reminder of
The animal's vitality, and these
And all were laid flat over burning coals
And the world was filled with the delicious
Smell... roasting flesh consumed mucho gusto.
She said: I think that is enough for me.
We sat at a white plastic card table
Waving at flies, dipping fire-roasted meat
Into spice powder with greasy fingers
When a fat ram, headless and skinless came
In the company of excited men
To be strung just off Alex's shoulder
From a handy hook we had not noticed.
I had the best view of the delivery.
The man pierced the leg tendon and it swung
Glossy, white, wet. Balls of sheep s*** still clung
To the viscera. Blood dripped from the neck.
Shameless and exposed.
Then the ax came out. In a few wet "thuks"
Intestines, liver and heart spilled out
Into waiting hands, and the ax worked on
Splitting the neck, chest and pelvis. Limbs splayed
Like the wings of a butterfly. Dangling
Two big balls were the last reminder of
The animal's vitality, and these
And all were laid flat over burning coals
And the world was filled with the delicious
Smell... roasting flesh consumed mucho gusto.
She said: I think that is enough for me.