Co-Existence

Cheyenne Main

We were walking down the sidewalk

When a squirrel crossed our path and sat

Motionless, save for the rapid pulse of its

Chest - you said you wanted to give it

A swift kick, punt it across the lawn

Like a furry football.

I laughed but you kept staring

At the squirrel, now halfway up

A tree, peering down at the two of us

Strange creatures, off on a mission

It can't comprehend.

In its world, we aren't

Souls in love, but predators

Snarling with sharp teeth, dragging

Our claws through the dirt, not

Acting on nature's violent call, but pacing

Back and forth endlessly behind its bars.

It seems godless,

This fear it harbors but refuses

To heed, living among monsters who never

Hurt, just shave away bushes and trees and land,

Amass gleaming monoliths that block the sun,

Stalk and shriek and cackle and crow.

I laughed because it just seems so absurd

That we could be so awful and the squirrel will still

Sit there,

Watching us strange creatures walk away

Hand in hand,

Waiting for a kick that never comes.