Fox

An encounter...

Through citrus streetlights, padded an apparition,

all ribs and lolling tongue, character expectation

dulled beige; urbanised regrettably

 

[not for you the Disney coat of sleek amber,

paintbrush tail dipped in thick emulsion].

 

I thought you were The Wolf come to get me

but the moon’s absence dispelled this theory;

no leap for the jugular,

instead trotting past, and away down the street.

 

You may not have noticed my curious shadow

although, solemnly, I stood up from the wall

to watch you go.

 

Again, reality has let you down,

for there are no trash cans for you to

knock over and rummage through,

only wheelie bin sentries at the end of each drive.

 

Did I put you off your hunt?

If so, we are equal,

since you were the distraction

that dissolved my last cigarette.

 

A wave of affection followed you round the bend,

wistful loss of a companion –

for I felt us partnered in the stealth

of anti-social habits:

yours for survival, mine supposedly suicidal.

 

They say opposites attract,

so I’ve made you my friend.

 

Reviews

[Bubo]

This is lovely
I am lucky to have my own fox, he comes out and sits on my decking in the garden and looks so proud, we watch each other, he now use to me and does not take flight any longer, but has become apart of the family in a quiet way.............I adore him ..........his stillness and knowing look.
You caught my fox in your words,

A wave of affection followed you round the bend,
wistful loss of a companion �
for I felt us partnered in the stealth
They say opposites attract,
so I�ve made you my friend.

Lovely.

[Thea M. Joy]

I love how descriptive this piece is...it was like I was watching it happen from the outside. Very lovely piece you have here! Thank you for sharing it with me!

[Emily B]

Fox as spirit guide. Everyone has animal-like traits. A co-worker would be a cat.

There is an aloofness to this all through the stories of suburban sprawl. Displaced wildlife. Loner tendencies. You identify with the fox. Just the way he must identify with you. It's a subdued write, but it works in its off-handed manner.

[~ Tex]

How cute and funny. Always kewl to identify with animals. Nicely described for any reader to be able to picture your fox. I enjoyed it.

I think I liked the last two stanzas the best.

[Cope Hayden]

You know I was just having the same sort of reflection the other day about an opossum. The lines

"Again, reality has let you down,
for there are no trash cans for you to
knock over and rummage through;
only wheelie bin sentries at the end of each drive."

Are very similar to what I was thinking, though i was musing a little more over the rise of recycling bins and how much easier it must now be for foxes, coons, and possums to scavenge now. Well no concrete criticism here, the poem speaks enough for itself.

[Anthony Morningstar]

I really liked the closing of this poem with the last two stanzas. Good job.

[Chantal-lise Mirman]

Great imagery! You've taken an familiar icon and imbued it with all the romantic attributes we would hope it to have, only to strip them away in the reality of the scene. Simultaneously clever and wistful, it is ultimately somewhat morose.

Your Disney description is brilliant, and the 'no, I guess you're not a wolf' scenario funny.

A few things could be trimmed to make this poem more focused:

In the first stanza, I think "regrettably" is unecessary, as it is clearly implied.

And I think the Disney stanza does not need the parentheses.

The fifth stanza could lose the "again" and simply start with "Reality."

I'm not sure about the final couplet... I understand the feeling you are trying to express, but you have just spent the whole poem showing how alike you and the fox are, so I don't see you as opposites.

I think if it were me, I might have called the poem CIVILIZED (sarcastically, or maybe, NOT SO CIVILIZED), and named the Fox perhaps as a stand-alone word at the end of the first stanza.

I think everyone relates as much to the fox as to you in this. Nice, understated analogy in a quietly observational mode. Good job!

[Fade]

I really like this piece - very sweet and clever. I loved the stanza that reads:

"A wave of affection followed you round the bend,
wistful loss of a companion �
for I felt us partnered in the stealth
of anti-social habits:
yours for survival,
mine supposedly suicidal."

That bit made me smile, finding an affinity in a fox. But, with how smokers are treated, I really got the analogy once you "voiced" it. Stealing a smoke has become sort of a minor crime now, hasn't it?

The narrative form enabled me to "see" it arrive, steal past, find no treasures, and depart. Nicely written.

[Blackbirdsong]

Oh what a wonderful moment this must have been, and you conveyed in such a way that I felt I was right there beside you watching the whole scene enfold before me.

I especially loved this stanza:

"Did I put you off your hunt?
If so, we are equal,
since you were the distraction
that dissolved my last cigarette."

My only suggestion would be to submit this somewhere. NOW! Seriously. It's quite good.

P.S. Oh yeah, remove the second title "Fox" with your poem. It makes it read as Fox Fox, unless that's how you wanted it.

take care :)

[Jennifer Welker]

thank you for sending this one in particular to me.
today was a good day to read.
i found the story and the comparisons
to be inspirational.
i love dualism.

[Gary H]

This is brilliant. Love the comparison you make between the person and the fox. Both are scavenging through life that has changed beyond comparsion, maybe not as opposite as you think? But, you are right, us humans are set to be suicidal while the defenceless fox has to take all the crap we throw at it. I guess we make the foxes life for him which is very sad as he is a free creature. Having said that, we do the same thing to other humans....
Yes, some interesting points made here. I could go on (What? I do go on?)!!