Eaten Alive

Eaten Alive - meaning Summary

Domestic Invasion and Discomfort

This short poem presents a single, uncomfortable moment: the speaker is literally eaten alive by lice and fleas while a horse beside the pillow urinates. The image collapses private and animal space, making domestic life intrusive and humiliating. The poem registers physical vulnerability and a bleak, wry recognition of bodily decay and disorder. Its stark, compressed snapshot evokes fragility and the absence of human dignity in the face of nature.