Bloodhound

Apple Pie
“one w h i
scented narratives
f f and I . . . . . .
Peter’s midnight bacon work
Peering into the cooling
room at Crane’s Meat
Processing, only the back
of Bill Crane’s hunched
shoulders are visible as he
inspects slabs of hanging
pork that reach to his shins.
He selects two pale hog
carcasses and slides them
down a roller track and into
the meat processing room.
Crane, in a large red apron
and blue latex gloves, tackles
the slabs with the precision
of a surgeon and the agility.
His motions are hypnotic.
b a c
He slices off a marbled hunk
of the belly and plops it on a
large, silver metal tray.
“That’s the bacon,” he says.
He trims off layers of fat
and lobs them into a bucket.
That’s for breakfast sausage.
He separates another hunk
and moves it under a buzzing
sharp meat saw, rhythmically
shearing off perfect little
circular cuts. Those will be
the best pork chops.
~ Written by Peter Dempsey
5 apple pie