The jack rabbit
Raced through the desert,
Stopping only to
Smell the air.
In the split of a second,
He changed direction,
From North to West,
Evading a rattle snake.
The sound of the rattle
At the end of the venomous snake
Died away as it slithered
Along the desert floor.
The predator passed
A pair of scorpions,
Claws snapping, tails raised,
Waiting for an opening to
Deliver a devastating blow.
This fight to the death
Did not even register
As important to
The vultures gliding
On the updrafts,
Waiting.
Waiting for the mountain lion
To have its fill of
A jack rabbit who
Chose to go West
Instead of North.
Submitted to imaginary garden with real toads and dVerse Poets
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10 comments:
Wow, this was cinematic! Excellent! (and I'm still getting to your interview - haven't forgotten.)
You captured nature at play for sure, as the prey and hunted go around the circle of life.
It amazing to me how a simple turn to the left or fight can have such impact on the eventual outcome and I think you capture that perfectly.
So vivid... the food chain at work.
Wow. This is the best poem I've read in a long time. The extended metaphor is truly great. There is so much being communicated here. One read could never do this poem justice.
goodness..you spun some amazing imagery...and while there are predators at every turn...is it in this case not just nature? smiles...really in the moment writing too...like it much...
Life can be so cruel! Everything eats.
I really like your rendering of the food chain, and the randomness of fate, which may apply to any living creature. You brought the environment to life in my mind's eye. If I may make one suggestion, I would say lose the word "venomous" - it is an unnecessary adjective, and removes the impact from the word 'snake'.
Thank you for sharing on Real Toads.
You have written the food chain as poetic even though it is so cruel. Such is life...love it!
real life... full of more drama than we can invent in our minds... and yet, here you did. Well done.
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