blind mice tails

Beets, exactly

Have you ever noticed?
How beet tap roots resemble mouse tails?
I have.

I take the beets firmly in hand and perform tailectomies
with a butcher knife
(Have you ever seen such a slice in your life?)
The beet juice seeping forth is red
and bloody

it stains my surgeon's fingers

Then the tails are threaded
connected on a string
and guilded while still moist

As the root dries the gold paint

takes on a sculpted look

The necklaces therefrom
are bio-degradable and indeed
ecologically sound

I save the dried peels for gift bows
and finally

even eat
the beets

(a tail-less beet was heard to say:

My only regret is that I have but one tail

to give to my thoughtful cook's lunch-ry)