Her son had been rabbiting
and brought home
a dead rabbit
and left it
by the back door
You can skin it
and prepare it
for dinner
she said
But I've never
skinned a rabbit before
Benny said
Now is your chance
to learn
she said
so she opened
the back door
and said
Bring a sharp knife
so he brought
a sharp knife
and she picked up
the dead rabbit
by the back legs
and took it
to a wooden bench
and laid it down
Right then
she said
first you slit open
the stomach
so taking the knife from him
she stuck the knife
in the rabbit's underside
and slit it open
from bottom to top
he stood watching
like a child a teacher
perform a ghastly experiment
Next you remove its guts
she said
and pulled out
what was within
with bloodied fingers
and hands
he looked on
horrified
Once its all out
you cut it away
and she did
what she said
and put it aside
in a lump
What do you do
with that?
he said
Cat can have them
she said
he thought the cat
was welcome to
the bloodied messy lump
Now you break
its back legs
she said
and before
he could say How
she snapped them both
Now we skin it
she said
like removing a cost
and he watched
as she expertly
skinned the rabbit
until it lay there nude
Next you remove the head
she said
and with the knife
cut off the head
and threw it on the bench
he stared
at the remaining
headless nude rabbit
What now?
he said
Put the head and skin
in a bag and shove it
in the bin
she said
he did as she said
Now we wash it out
and cut it up for dinner
she said
Will the kids eat it?
he said
Not if we tell them
it's rabbit they won't
she said
I'll tell them it's chicken stew
it tastes like chicken
so he watched
as she took it
into the kitchen
and washed it out
then cut it up
and placed it
into a large saucepan
and some chicken stock
and put on to boil
with carrots and onions
Your turn next time
she said
he nodded his head
and hoped her son
didn't bring home
another rabbit
but never said.