the cat and the fox

aluminum thought he would catch it from plutonium
and plutonium thought it belonged to calcium
the dog told the cat that they couldn’t see each other anymore
it was too risky
the fox under the chain link fence slipped out protective gloves and tied his long red beard tightly to his body
coated himself with tape
the steps of the periodic table shivered then fell
elements
in the elements
rain made them corrode
zinc had to go home
the fox killed his young
none of them would touch each other
they stayed
in opposite corners of this far wide open globe
of this home
no table
no levels
no control
no continent line that could tell them they did not belong
they belonged to the earth and the sea
and those things can kill you know?
they stayed and waited
hoping for a reordering
for an omission of the things which had made them great and then thrust them to the floor with lust and anger
“we shouldn’t have done that” said the fox
“I’ve lost my only friends” said the plutonium
“my home…my life…the birds” said the cat
the world was wide, wet and scary
and they hid and they hid
clinging to clues like a ventriloquist in an audience of poker face
like a doctor scared of his patients
like those who think they will die soon, very soon
until they realized the only disease was in their mind