Instructions
The sign dictates: Watch Out for Mountain Lions
I study the twisted cracked cottonwoods
The morass of dry underbrush
The decaying limbs long ago fallen
The pond I pass reflects the calm of the day
With an occasional trout disturbing the placid water
Nearby the river smooth-talks the stones along its way
Without much effort as it travels on.
However, the sign dictates: Watch out for Mountain Lions
I have sighted an eagle eyeing a mouse
Not protected by the morass of dry underbrush
The raptor’s definitive landing
In the twisted cracked cottonwoods
Readies that mouse lunch.
I watch my step as a slithering grass snake still safe
In the decaying limbs long ago fallen
Strikes out at an unsuspecting toad.
But I am sure to Watch Out for Mountain Lions
01/11/2021