Back Home

Morrisville, Pa.

Jan 1988

The Squirrel

Awhile ago,

he was playing in the tree tops,

or darting up a telephone pole

to dance along the wires.

Chasing his friends around a tree

in a game of tag.

Chattering at the neighborhood cat.

Now he's lying in the road,

his body broken by the wheels of a car.

He crossed the street without looking.

I can't help wondering,

if he died fast,

or if he suffered.

If his friends miss him.

Do squirrels mourn?

Hunters kill squirrels too,

they shoot them out of their

playgrounds in the trees.

If you ask them "why?"

they'll tell you,

"I hunt for food."

Fifty cents for a shotgun shell,

ten dollars an hour for labor.

Four squirrels, two pounds of meat,

twenty two dollars labor & materials.

My God!

Does squirrel meat taste that good?