Exterminator

in the belly of Minnesota

the river mouth points to the southern sky

where black forest hams roam in a deep dark forest,

a collection of banana fish nipping each other

glide past pillars of powdered salt

and caribou are watched by

a lone pale mountain lion

makes the land seem very untame,

following north against the grain

a man of brutality and struggle

whose compass rose defies uncertainty

manipulates new intelligence and technology

submarines and mind control,

this man made ‘inside’ a must-

unapologetic, he compelled out units

who provided another

dreary life under his belt

they have strength, agility and exploration,

but not braveness or the will-

intense arms with flashlights,

with half-dead pigs, and ‘zombies’

out of a factory through monstrous ways

and again in the light