I.
I observe with lack of stoicism 
an alligator snapping turtle 
lifting her heavy feet. 
There are snakes
who cannot uncoil themselves 
—I think of driving, when I can’t straighten my legs—
birds that cannot fly, 
a “gator” in a handspan of water, 

these exist beside their own dead.

Squeak and Wanda watch a television program: 
“Bison is a white man’s word.”

Through experience we know 
what it took to build it. 
What will it take 
to maintain? 

              II. 
In this exhibit look for elements of pride: 

I think that I would like to make
the dioramas that house the stuffed ones.
I note the clean plastic that is water and frost. 
The leaves cut from polyester,
the batting snow.
Most painful are moments where
the artist has tried to manufacture
urgency: a duck half-submerged,
beak open to clamp fish.
Dust settles around
its entry point.
The spheres forming its splash
have yellowed with time. 

Thus being, says the plaque, 
Thus being, I go. 
Sarah Esocoff is a writer, artist, and audio producer based in Brooklyn, NY. She has made podcasts about queerness and femininity, collectors, the abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, and celebrities’ high school experiences. She also writes comedy for Reductress and paints people she doesn’t know. Her work can be found on her website, sarahesocoff.com.
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