Thursday, August 11, 2011

This is not Russell Edson's "The Sardine Can Dormitory" (1977)


A man opens a sardine can and finds a row of tiny cots full of tiny
dead people; it is a dormitory flooded with oil.
He lifts out the tiny bodies with a fork and lays them on a slice
of bread; puts a leaf of lettuce over them, and closes the sandwich
with another slice of bread.
He wonders what he should do with the tiny cots; wondering if
they are not eatable, too?
He looks into the can and sees a tiny cat floating in the oil. The
bottom of the can, under the oil, is full of little shoes and stockings.

And I know that many people have said this before me, but this is not a pipe either.

A