Cryptozoology

I hid you a message
in the unicorn horn and
you can listen to it
played by needle
(if you wish)
on the patterns and breaks
of the circling grooves
as they travel upward
to the point
(where they end)

I wrote you a name
in chalk on the plaque
but neatly
(so it looks official)
using no real letters and
mistransliterated
to mark the specimen
in its exhibit box
reclined and natural posed
stitched together
but neatly
(by needle if you wish)
from its pieces and parts each
out of and far from
its natural habitat
brought to composition
in taxidermy
(where they end)

I gave you a story
to speak of the prints
pressed far down
in the mudless ground
of our backyard square
linked together
(by needle if you wish)
creeping uneven
paw after paw
through the ungrooved points
of the knotweed shoots
which grow invasive
out of and far from
their natural habitat
and onward again
creeping uneven
paw after paw
to the sharp edge hole
in the chain link fence
(where they end)