part and parcel julie bolt That boy liked to cut earthworms in half He said they wouldn’t die That they just close right back up But then he pretended he was the deli man Cutting pepperoni --- slice, slice, slice So I wondered if each slice would seal separately Or if the bloody pieces would slowly wriggle back Together, and I wondered how much that earthworm Hurt, and how deep its blood soaked the soil And if its worm friends could smell the carnage And if they would slide through the pieces With their moist live bodies