This is for the dead dogs

the deer and squirrels and foxes

all these lives we see as lesser

and hit with our cars

and leaves twitching or trickling

on the gravel sides of roads

this is for all that we have buried

all the streams and

fields of orange flowers

beneath our concrete and rubble

so that our tires can spin better

so that we can speed

and burn oil

and cough out exhaust

so that we can shatter the quiet

so that we can go everywhere

and on our ways

we will kill these things

that once moved so gracefully

through the woods and water

that once were perfect

and whole

before our rubber and steal

tore them to bits

and left them bleeding

in the curvy dark

~Alexander Joseph