Animal Husbandry

by Paul Legault

Originally published in The Other Poems (Fence Books, 2011)

On the beat and on wheels,
I do this thing called beach patrol.

DARNELLE: What are you wearing?
HORSE 1: Ice pink and chocolate plaid with ice lavender and Sahara accents.
HORSE 2: Ice green plaid with Sahara and chocolate accents.
HORSE 3: Ice blue plaid with ice green, hunter, and cream accents.

The anthropomorphic cat eating the non-anthropomorphic mouse
doesn’t really want to. Or else he wanted to inside somewhere

where he couldn’t admit it.
OLD BEAGLE: I remember sans memories.

RED OCTOBER: The ice paddle serves its purpose.
GALAPAGOS: Last season should’ve been the last season that

some wooden mass set sail
when I was on it.