boulder turning game

if you grew up
in the
countryside
you know the game

You find the biggest
boulder
you can turn over
and you turn it over
and discover
an entire world underneath

pale
alien plants
and critters, maggots,
worms, mice
or even small reptiles

I loved that
game

Kept playing it
until I no longer liked
what I discovered
under the boulders

It was dead

and it was just rotten
fur and bone and teeth

Fragile like burnt
paper
in the wind

A kitten

and no answer to the
question «why?»

They just told me, «An’ what
would you have fed it?
Your guts?
Go play somewhere else.»

I did
for what else could
I have done?

besides crying

Since then
I no longer play the boulder
turning game

or any other game

I’m afraid life will find
a way to
suck the fun out
of it again 

Many thanks to Gobblers by Masticadores for featuring my poem, "boulder turning game"!

Check it out HERE!

Thank you!