The Infected, Utah

when you are not around
a tree falls loudly
adding another rib to the forest

and larvae pulse like
contented stomachs, the beating heart
becomes a beetle

have you ever seen my heart?
the grub that releases early
an obvious black insect on the snow

the heart that loved you so much
straight away, but couldn’t have
so it was buried. a mind

that is more like a shovel. a chest
in need of filling. a walk without
its mention, except that it was with you

to a Pizza Hut in Utah. a group of local kids
hid out in cars and turned on their
headlights as we passed

then they turned them off. it felt as if
we had been cleansed of something
we didn't know was on us