Mark Vannier

Animal Planet

--for Bruno

I have no humanity:
This message I telepathy to a friend's pet
bunny rabbit nestled in the crux of my elbow.

As he shivers in my arms, I reach 
a point of stillness that we are dancing,
a swooping, eyes-closed dance in time
to the Willie Nelson record crackling
out to us as a hug of sound waves.

I whisper mental directives
for self-personification:
Wink one bunny eye to express pity for the less fortunate.
Thump twice if you think Christ a safety net.

He trembles, his fur and muscles and bones
precious and unpredictable
like a black bowling-ball bomb if a bomb
could explode
without the regret of limited expansion;
frictionless, unopposed.

If a butterfly flaps its wings in Bora Bora, 
the Laws of Thermodynamics do not ignore 
a child flipping the bird in Santa Claus, Indiana.
The rabbit escapes my arms,

wriggles between my knees, three seconds maybe,
and bunny-runs as far away from me as possible.
I don't blame it.
Enormous ears on those creatures. 

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Crab Creek Review: Spring/Summer 2004