Red Suirrels
And they have driven away the crows.
        (`Squirrels´ by Sujata Bhatt)

These squirrels have a different relationship
with birds. They crack their eggs, claw
the shells apart and suck yolk,
but the adult birds harass them at every
opportunity, though only during nest building
and incubation. The squirrels retreat
before the birds´ clattering assault
but they have no fear. I have wondered
if the squirrels take the chicks
and conclude not since hostilities subside
about the time hatching takes place.

The birds chase and the squirrels run.
It could almost be a game, but life´s the prize.

Sujata, my squirrels also chase each other
round and round the trunk of a tree.
It´s not as meaningful as anger,
not so directed as lust. I´ve seen them touch.

Nor do they leave damage behind them.
Though their claws catch and hold
the bark unerringly, they do not tear.
They will run the length of higher branches
that bend at their slim ends under squirrel weight,
launch without hesitation into the next tree,
sink with the sinking limb
they have caught, twist, upside down
and drop to the next branch.

There are times when I watch their progress
through the trees, when only the succession
of shaking leaves marks their passage.

Or they dart across the open grass, stop,
stand on their back legs and stare.
Their eyes are large and their snouts
blunt, ugly and beautiful at once.

These squirrels steal the nuts and seeds
we put out for the birds and bury them
as winter stores which they don´t always find.
In spring sunflowers shoot up
in the middle of our lawn and the early sun
can draw the bees out too soon
to die beneath the hedge.





Mike