Matthew Drew Williams

The Vivisection

Its ribs stuck out of the reddish opening
the way crow’s nests of sunken ships
poke out from shallow seas. I imagined

how its life had begun; when the vintage
champagne bottle shattered on the
newborn bow and this thing took its

maiden voyage; scurrying from shady
alcoves through throw rug tides, dodging
cheese-centered traps, twitching its

nautical whiskers. I remember how
convulsively it struggled— swaying on
the torrents of an organ-tinged slab,

unable to avoid the scalpel; dying as
water charged into the substantial
starboard gash. Soon it would be the

alleyway dumpster’s plaything:
a decomposing, biohazardous bundle—
a corroding vessel wanting to float again.
 
Matthew on “The Vivisection”

Matthew Drew Williams is a Floridian now living in Western New York. His interest in poetry first began by reading such poets as Allen Ginsberg and Charles Bukowski. Last year he completed his bachelor’s degree in psychology. At the end of 2012 he took over two months to tour several European countries. This fall he plans to start his master’s in social work.