WILDLIFE

By city standards, the wilderness

behind my house is vast and

inhabited by all the usual denizens,

some of whom make it difficult

to feed the cat outside.

Damned ‘coons and ‘possums!

The inconvenience of their thievery

is ameliorated by a proud stag

with a broad rack and his harem

of satisfied does. I’ve seen them do

what deer do when I try to sneak up

the driveway I cut through their home.

Heads up.

Freeze in place.

His eyes to mine.

He snorts to his girls

because he knows

as he turns to leave,

he’s stuck in a better

rut

than I.

Reviews

[Betty Hermelee]

Dear Vol
spoken like a true Texan…. you portray such a vivid scene, along with a bit of humor…. i love the words you choose to describe the stunning wildlife in your corner of the world…you show empathy not only for your cat, but also for the wild animals as well….Nicely crafted Vol….thank you for sharing
Warmly, B

[Vol]

Betty!
Thank you, I sure don't feel like I do things differently from others, I've been a hard-core reader since I could hold a book, so I have a vocabulary, so there is that. I've been writing for fun since I learned how, and words have always been my favorite toys... but those things came because of the way I was nurtured, I had good parents, I think the only stuff that comes rom inside and wasn't taught and learned, is like all serious poet, I look at the background as hard as I see the object, because there is so much more to glean... the tiny details make the scene...
I'm sorry, I got started down that rabbit hole and couldn't pull out in time!
Vol

[Betty Hermelee]

I'm jealous of your capacity for the perfect words!!!
Warmly, B

[Vol]

Betty,
Blush! blush!
Vol

[Michael Sun Bear]

Nice poem Vol. I live just outside the north end of Seattle. It’s urban but we have our raccoons and possums and coyotes. Many years ago I lived on lower Queen Anne in Seattle, and I put a small wading pool filled with water on the deck, and most nights our friend a possum would come and wash and drink. I have to go home visiting my brother to see deer.

[Vol]

Michael,
Thank you! It's funny, but I don't know what to think of Seattle culture, I feel more alienated from the society there than society in Britain. It is a result of the media being so selective in their coverage and never giving the full or even correct picture about anything.
Vol
Anyway, My disgust stems largely from what happened to Merlin, my brilliant cockatiel who coud carry on whole conversations. One warm spring night I put his cage on the screened porch and a raccoon got in and murdered him... There will never be any forgiveness for coons!
Vol

[Lorry]

Yes he is. No wining, no dining, no need for privacy as he does the thing that comes naturally and all he's gotta worry about is that weird human who keeps feeding the rodents his hard earned pet food 😃
It never does fail to stop me in my tracks when I come across a deer in a clearing. Each time I gasp in awe, or is it gratefulness that it's not a rhino or lion? 😃
Thankfully though both rhino and lions know better than to hang around in a cold a*s country like this.
Thankfully for us our biggest gripe is the mighty midge, who ironically for a country made up of a high proportion of redheads, they really do enjoy biting redheads!

[Vol]

Lorry,
Hm... I guess those are the bugs Tolkien talked about, when one of then of the fellowship wondered "What do they eat when they can't get Hobbit? When I lived on the coast of Mississippi, the mosquitos were so bad that if you stood in one place, you'd breathe them in... black ones with white strips on their legs... they'd tear of a chunk an flup to a limb to eat it... Or Pensacola Beach with the dog flies in August... when they bit it was like a mini pirana, sometimes several at once would come ageter you so yould run to water and dive in and swim thitry feet UNDER the water, and those sons-a-b*****s would follow you! I mean i know insects occupy an important place on the food chain, but why do they have to have such vicious bites?... Ah, and advantage of living here is it's too dry for most of them... except the Black widows and scorpions...
Vol

[Lorry]

Plus, we know just to slap on some skin so soft, which is only allowed to advertise as a moisturiser, despite the fact it's 100% effective at stopping midge bites. And remember, thisisa country whose national animal is the unicorn, which in case you've ever failed attuning them, doesn't exist and a national flower ofthe thistle, which I think most people do agree exists but only as a weed and not a flower.
I'm surprised our national bird isn't the phoenix if im being totally honest! 😃