Oh Wild Animal

OH WILD ANIMAL
June 24, 2006

Oh wild animal who
stands so still
amongst the greenery,
and never lifts your head
above the crisp and
trembling scenery,
but keeps on grazing
never mind the admiring
eyes that long to see you
stomp or shake or
nod your head or flick
the morning dew;
just to find you’re but
a rock, a clump
of bushes or debris;
and that your head’s
a net of brambles
and it’s stone
and not your knee.
With mountains rising
at your shoulders
where upon their
precarious peaks
sprawl many stones and
rocks and boulders,
can you guess, oh crafty beast,
what might happen there
to affect your cruel disguise
if I should shout
“Look at the bear?”