There was a fox on my doorstep the other night
I'd come home late a few days before and heard a bit of a scramble. I
thought that was a rat; but then a few days later I saw the fox and
suspect it was he both times. I'd never really believed the rat story; and
all the cats know how to deal with me
I have seen him before. He's rather young and seems to have missed
induction day so you see him in a dither sometimes, not quite adept at
getting hidden
I'm quiet and he may not even know when I am in. I go in the side door.
It's a small house with overgrown garden and because I use the side door I
dont always notice just how overgrown it is. Quite a good place for a fox
who's not good at Indiana Jones leaps over fences. I think he likes
catching the moonlight in his mane and munching the odd dropped chip carry
out; but, I suspect, really wants to write fox poetry and doze
Before all this snow nonsense I had a duck sitting in a washing up bowl
I'd been using to plant seedlings - bit of rain in it and the duck thought
that'd suit
L
On Wed, December 8, 2010 10:06, Patrick McManus wrote:
> Max cheers tyger tiger Here in London Foxes seem to be getting tamer
> one walked in front of me down the road after a poetry workshop last
> night-and recently a heron settled in my garden -a first -sort of cheering
> Patrick out in the cold
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Poetryetc: poetry and poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf Of Max Richards
> Sent: 08 December 2010 04:50
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: lake snake snaps
>
>
> O Marthe,
> dugites are new to me as I have spent too little time in WA. Now I know
> this much:
>
> Generally speaking the Dugite is a relatively shy snake and prefers to
> retreat when disturbed. Sometimes without too much propagation however (or
> if harassed), they can vigorously defend themselves and typical of browns
> snake, display the classic "S" pose and usually hissing before delivering
> an accurate strike.
>
> Dugites should be treated with extreme caution as bites have resulted in
> fatalities.
>
> Hmm, for propagation read provocation, I guess.
>
>
> We got a whole picture story out of a tiger snake that turned up at our
> front door one recent October. My wife - with her good camera, and a
> surprisingly steady hand. Never any danger.
> The snake catcher came eventually and manoeuvred it into his bag which he
> tied with a red ribbon. - This in suburban Doncaster Vic, but the park is
> directly opposite and mowing gets the snakes on the move.
>
> (did you note my Emily Dickinson echoes?)
>
>
> Max
>
>
> Quoting Marthe Reed <[log in to unmask]>:
>
>
>> Okay, I would snap a photo of a dugite. A tiger snake, no way!
>>
>>
>> Marthe
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Dec 7, 2010 at 6:51 PM, Max Richards <[log in to unmask]>
>>
> wrote:
>
>>
>>>
>>> Lake snake snaps
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Got up early
>>> took my dog and visited the lake.
>>>
>>> From the bridge saw:
>>> watery, greenery, rockery and - a sleeping snake.
>>>
>>> Took out my trusty
>>> mobile phone and clicked for snapping,
>>>
>>> aimed it at the rock where the tiger snake was napping.
>>>
>>> Click and click again -
>>> pocketed my phone - home we flew.
>>>
>>> Darling, look what I snapped!
>>> That does it, she said,
>>> dogs are not safe with you.
>>>
>>> But the dog was leashed,
>>> the snake way out of reach! What if it wasn't, she screeched.
>>>
>>>
>>> Wish I hadn't told you!
>>> Look, here on my phone -
>>> too small to even see!
>>>
>>> That makes it worse,
>>> she said. Less, not more safety.
>>>
>>> Dog and I skulked away -
>>> we'd had our time with the lake snake - and zero in the phone.
>>>
>>>
>>> Max Richards
>>> Ruffey Lake Park
>>> Doncaster, Victoria
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Marthe Reed
>> Director of Creative Writing
>> Assistant Professor
>> English Department
>> UL Lafayette
>> 337-482-5503
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
>> http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~mxr5675/home.html
>>
>>
>> http://nous-zot.blogspot.com/
>>
>>
>> http://www.blackradishbooks.org/Reed.html
>> _____________________________________
>> The biplane shuttles through the telegraph wires.
>> The fountain sings the same old song.
>> At the cab-drivers' bar, the drinks are orange,
>> but the eyes of the engine drivers are white. The lady has lost her smile
>> in the woods.
>>
>> --Philippe Soupault
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> This email was sent from Netspace Webmail: http://www.netspace.net.au
>
>
--
Three poems in Volume 4 Issue 1 'Peripatetica: The Poetics of Walking':
http://www.landscapeandlanguagecentre.au.com/current_journal.html
*
http://www.cordite.org.au/poetry/creativecommons/poems-for-ivor-cutler-3
http://www.cordite.org.au/poetry/cc-the-remixes/the-man-who-finds-himself-amusing
"This is not a time for foolery, or compliments. It may be that both of us
are within a few minutes of death... And I, at any rate, don't propose to
die with polite insincerities in my mouth. "
C S Lewis - That Hideous Strength
---
Lawrence Upton
AHRC Creative Research Fellow
Dept of Music
Goldsmiths, University of London
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