I grew up near a highway, so roadkill was a normalized sight since I was young. Althea Davis' poem reframes the common image of a dead animal, wondering what comes next and praying for the next step of their journey to be safer. As the poem goes on, attention moves to animals that have lesser and lesser respect and care from the public, and the need for simple comfort becomes more and more dire. Davis then turns the attention to us; human beings are animals too, and if such a grisly fate awaits us, then hopefully we'll receive the same love that all creatures deserve.