Grabbing them by the tail ends

Bodies like little men

Or once like little men

Now their ribs pierce out from a thin layer of skin

Malnourished frame

Swollen bellies

Eyes ready to be plucked out of their sockets

It twitches in my hands

Mumbles something in Yiddish

Coming to my senses, I fling the mouse across the room

And it smacks against my dad’s desktop computer

I wipe off my hands but I still smell burning flesh and gasoline

I scrub them raw

And then my arms

And then my legs

And my chest and stomach and lungs for good measure

I shudder as the fat drips off my body

And my cat licks it off the floor