poking things with a stick

i like to poke dead
things with a stick
your friend emily
tells you, picking
one up as you walk
along the shore.
take that fish
for example. dead,
right? watch me
poke it and flip
it over. or that
muskrat over there
near the rocks. i
need a long stick
for that. yup, it's
dead. it has no eyes,
but the teeth are all there.
what's wrong with you,
you ask her, shaking
your head? leave
those dead things alone.
she throws
the stick into the river.
lunch? she says,
my treat. umm, sure.
but let's wash our
hands first.