under the light.

Under an old florescent desk lamp on a shelf in my bedroom is one of my collections. The dead thing jars.

An adult bird, found in Brooklyn in the front on my old house.

A mouse, caught by my boyfriend Ashley's cat and left as a present on the doorstep of his parent's house. He saved it for me.

What started the collection over a decade ago—my Chinese Crested Powder Puff, Merlot's castration. The vet saved his balls for me.

An albino frog I call the "dancing frog" that I found dead in a tank at the pet store. I got it for free.

A friend of my Betta fish that didn't last more then a day with him. I found it after work under the credenza dried up like a fish chip.

My best friend Nicki's Chinatown red-eared slider turtle that didn't make it.

Two more presents from sweet Joejoe Noel, left at the doorstep on the same afternoon. A mole and a mouse.

A hatchling found on the sidewalk in Park Slope Brooklyn. It was covered in ants, but the alcohol took care of that.

A beautiful canary that got lost on-set after a pet segment. It was found a few days later when Aaron mistook it for a Christmas ornament. He put it in a brown paper lunch bag and left it on my desk.

A crab that one of my mom's nursery school kids bought to class. Mom took it to return it to the ocean but it didn't make it.

Nicki's second turtle didn't make it either.

Next to the exposed graveyard is a prayer for the animals.
No animals were harmed for this blog post.