Dissecting Frogs – L(atex)A(nd)B(ile)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Dissected Frog by Johann Rosenhof
 
 

Nausea lies just beneath
formaldehyde surface tension,
the stink of chemicals, latex and bile
 

violating torpid air. Amphibians
pinned to cheap chipboard;
skin surprisingly un-clammy.
 

Tranquilised, triple-lidded eyes
will not see the midday sun
rippling pond scum
 

or catch the quick swim of pollywogs
as they erupt gelatinous spawn.
Tiny tympani unable to hear
 

the nervous slice of the scalpel
or the greasy ooze of fluids
escaping the obsolete cloaca.
 

Liver, stomach and pancreas,
plump and ripe for removal,
cardiac pump a little harder to find,
 

but it is the minute testicles
that remain elusive, that dodge
the delicate tweezers
 

trembling between pink fingers
until finally located inside
the prone, olive body.