Wednesday, April 29, 2015

A Small Life

                     
pale dry leaves cushion a spot
under the butterfly bush
in my back yard
a leafy cave
hides a dark place…

from my kitchen window
I see a slight gray shadow
tall ears above a pink nose
I’m startled as two eyes
stare at me from under the bush
not blinking

a rabbit…  frozen as a statue
safe in its stillness
in perfect camouflage hawks won’t
see   as they fly overhead
looking for dinner
I say hello and in an instant
it hops away
into the grass and weeds beyond
as if it heard me speak

evening flows in, moves the day
out of the way
I sense something watching
prepare supper and glance out the window
there it is again
stares through the window
curious I suppose
I smile and move
to see if it will turn its head to follow
 this time just a flicker of its eye

the rabbit has claimed this spot
I see its small gray form every morning
and evening
sometimes it spends the day there
happily nibbling on seeds and grass
crabapples spread over the ground
never moving far from its hiding place

in the middle\of the night
I hear an animal scream
it isn’t a dream
nor the first time I hear this sound
filter through my sleep

when you live near farms and fields
out beyond the lights and noises of the city
the sharp sadness of loss
the beat of life and death is always present
in small ways



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