The groundhog's all puffed up with death
his scurrying rush has ended
fat next to the highway.

Turned over by schoolchildren's shoes
string tied to his spine
the helium-fed colors
of a birthday balloon
frozen symmetry of four paws
evaporating in daylight.

Paths and the paint of skin
coming off the warped terrain
eyes closed above the open mouth
cones clacking on the quiet tree's
cacophony of branches.