Today I watched a vine unravel it’s spine
From around a savory leaf
It lightly lay it’s beating pulse
Upon a trembling leaf
And smiled as it moved up and down
Like a fox on the prowl
I watched the leaf flaunt it’s curve
And bend into the pulse
To which the vine
Gave everything
To curl it’s furthest tip
Which lingered long
About delectably exposed veins
Sliding down to the delicate joint
That held the leaf to the branch
As a suckling lifeline,
And plucked the leaf to devour it.
No, it is not thy cause
It is exactly thy momentum
Of this beating heart
That fluctuates between
Hunger and pain
Life and death
Wet and dry
These contrasts to live indeed!
That keep flowing forth
Such delicate evolutions
Of thy soul and mind
And push me, ever more.
I work up early and there was a sense of calm inside of me
As I stepped outside to relieve myself
I realized the calm may have been coming from
A fresh layer of snow
The first snowfall of the Winter
There’s a beautiful calm
That exists only when large snowflakes are falling in the air
And when everything around
Seems to be muted, simplified
Like it’s all water.
I had my moccasins on making light footsteps in the snow
And as I turned around to go back inside
I faced the village
And saw a lone fox trotting through
On its way somewhere important
Such a delicate creature
Always alarmingly small
Yet incredibly smart
Sneaky.. crafty little buggers.
I made a little movement
And it noticed me standing there and stopped
Cocked it’s head to the side
As if to say: “Hello, what are you looking for?”
I cocked my head to the side and replied:
“I have been looking for you.”
It stayed like this for at least three breaths
Each breath I watched the fox
Through the steam of my breath.
We stood about 50 meters apart
It started slowly walking towards me
I didn’t move, it came to me
I thought to myself,
‘Why don’t you always keep
Some morsels of food to share with animals
In your pocket?’
For now would have been a great time to share
But alas, I could not conjure up the food
Nor could I probably feed this fox
Solitary creatures they are.
It came a few steps closer to me
Listened more intently
Then suddenly turned it’s head to Moon Cow’s teepee
And I looked in that direction too
And there was Moon Cow
Standing outside of his teepee
Just as I was doing
Watching me, watching the fox
And the three of us stood here for a few more breaths
And then the fox trotted off
In the direction it had been going
Before we had said hello.
Captain Charles A. Bigoff
Of the 98th Battalion
Secret commando troupe
Special Ops for behind enemy lines
Reporting for duty Sir
Reconnaissance yesterday
Went as planned
We swooped in on the target
at 2235 Blackberry Lane
Bird feeder was located
Nearby vicinity was swept
No enemy squirrels
None were found
However, we did find tracks
That led into the forest
Which we followed
To the den of the suspect
We found the fox Sir
Two pups and the mother
The bombers took two passes
Dropping the heavy boys
We believe the threat
Has been neutralized Sir
The area is clear for landing
Excellent job Captain
You are dismissed
Captain Charles can be purchased here.