Member-only story
Poetry
Every One, a Gift
Wildlife Sightings and a Life Well-Lived
Tiny fox ears poke above the tangled grapevines,
Circle of fawn lays invisible beneath my feet in mid-air,
Flying ermine arcs past my lunch spot, lands on mouse,
White head and bold eyes poke above the snow.
Dappled-sunlight-spots surprise us on the cliff’s edge.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place, sandstone is
Weasel’s prison, or his fortress.
Bushy fox-tail leads the way for miles of Sawtooth trail,
Fisher’s lithe body combs Maven’s Beach at dawn,
Whale’s spout emerges from the passage after we’ve reached shore,
Black bear tumbles down from Goat Rocks, huckleberry-full,
Marmot stands sentry as pika gathers her daily harvest,
Fat Flathead beaver sits alone in his cave piled high with willows,
Single and available — winter will close the dating pool in six weeks.
Merganser guides her flotilla of punk, red-headed babies, paddles
The glacial river downstream. Common loons call to each other,
Back and fourth across the green width of Spoon Lake. Stay away…
