Forget the dead donkey.

[REW]

(Part ii of iii - part i = How the weave a donkey, found below in mild)
 
Forget the dead donkey.
 
A relief on a throw shows
two dimensional donkeys
trapped in a tapestry.
 
The donkeys don’t know they are dead.
Pleasure fed days, led to lusty delights;
a pose held in threads.
Isolated on their woven stage,
 
they wait for the blinding flash (I do not get this here...doesn't cauterize mean to sear a wound so that is stops bleeding?  This doesn't really make sense to me, the whole stanza)
to cauterize the forgetful flesh.
The leading light is lost,
gnawed by the bray of inmates.
 
The key to the cage (Okay, so I take it if you pull on the thread the tapestry will unravel, freeing the donkeys...)
is a silver chord,
center eye threaded.
 
A flint spark starts the exchange. (I do not understand what this stanza has to do with the donkey tapestry)
Fire branded lambs; stand-ins
to man up the part, depart
to the left of the curtain cleft.
 
Winning by a neck they race (Donkeys and lambs are racing chased by cheetahs?)
down from the red rock face;
blackened and hairy. Chased
by the shadows of cheetahs.
 
The last panel depicts:  (I am thinking there are hidden innuendos in this to a man, perhaps a double meaning for the donkeys and lambs.)
A pile of un-ground grain spilling
over the cloak-cum comforter.
 
A corner of cloth covers  (Not really sure what this stanza is trying to do )
four dust encrusted feet.
A days worth of grain is ignored.                    
The sleeper greeted, restored.
 
Within the folds a story is told; (ahah...I am thinking the wife here is a parallel for the donkeys and lambs, but what does the knife have to do with it?  Is the wife waiting to attack the husband for leaving cum crusts on the tapestry?)
wood and knife burden, wife
and life limb -- up-trades made.
The dead donkey speaks.

I clicked on this poem over other poems to read it because the title, "Forget the Dead Donkey" was intriguing to me.  I am confused as to what exactly is going on within the poem though.  Clearly, it is not just a description of a tapestry depicting donkeys.  However, I am not quite clear on what is being conveyed.  I suggest going through and cleaning this up and reworking to make the meaning a tad more clear.  An air of mystery is good, but for me it is too vague to walk away with any real grasp of the poem.