3.
nickel plate


On just the other side of the Nickel Plate bridge,
the one that Steven always said he'd jump from
if the water ever got low enough for his body to
be found, we buried the gray tiger-striped cat
that always tried to claw its way into his split-
level living room window.  We dug three feet
down, separating dirt from coin, earth from worm.
We wished in vain we'd find arrowheads.
Steven said it was far enough, that our dirt
harvest could properly cover the cat; he said
this as to imply that Earth was clothing that
any modest and proper cat would wear.  We
put the earthworms we found into an empty
Coke cup I bought with my allowance at the
Wendy's by the river.  We threw in some dirt
for the worms, 15 cents in pennies, and three
nickels.  When we dropped the cat in the hole,
its bag twisted to land on its feet, and it yowled.
Steven put the dirt back in place.  He made
me pat my shovel on the ground to make it still.
It felt like the handle would snap like twigs.
We tied our shovels to our bikes and rode home.
In '98, Steven jumped.


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