I gathered red-backed salamanders,

four or five at a time,

took them from their dark, moist

environment

at the bottom of a wooded gulley

and placed them in the bright 

confines of my terrarium, from which

of course, they always escaped:

 

I still like to tell the story, to point out the curiosity --

their mummified, perfectly preserved bodies 

enmeshed in the golden fibers of my mother's carpet.