The goose was slaughtered not too soon before

[joel]

The goose was slaughtered not too soon before
I saw it disemboweled, twilit sliced,
an August night in Austria, when I
was nine years old. I watched and awesome feared
and took sadistic curious delight
when, calmly cut, its bladder bled in fresh
elimination—lovely vivid red
and graceful water mixed. How swiftly fled
away the wet remains of life, how presc-
iously. I stumbled there that summer night
by accident: an accident revered.
O quiet countryside, if you supply
my stomach, more supply my thoughts sufficed
with truth as sensitivities adore.