In the freezer, my mother searches  
            for marbled hamburger, finds  
knots of spinal vertebrae, tubes
            of femurs threaded with fat,  
shins stained pink where blood  
            rushed, holes wide,  
a viewscope framing her belly, 
            vortex of blood and bone
expanding out from her, fists
            and feet kneading her bladder. 
Her hand lingers on skulls  
            whorled with ice crystals, 
ovals where wet noses
            investigated her hands, their urgent  
need for the bottle she held, milk
            gurgling down their throats, 
white foam splattering her
            rubber boots, their necks  
slender, soft, warm, their tails  
            flickering, dark eyes rolled  
back with pleasure, eyes  
            now staring at her,  
fumed in cold.

Samantha Leigh Futhey is currently an M.F.A. candidate in the Creative Writing and Environment program at Iowa State University. She has poetry published in RHINO Poetry (under the name Samantha Leigh) and Rust +Moth.