Possum Song
POSSUM SONG
You are the same possum
I saw eating my garbage
like a recluse,
your long pointed snout
hissing at me through your teeth.
When I first saw you
I backed away
and quickly closed my door,
my legs still shaking
as if I'd been chased by a bear.
For months now I thought you'd be there
upturning my garbage cans
for some tasty morsel.
Oh, yes, I believed I'd see you again
every time I opened my door.
One night as I turned into my driveway,
my car lights focused for an instant
on your gray face
and mutilated body
lying alone in the street.
In the city when an animal dies
they carry off his remains
with the trash.
Only another possum could appreciate
the grotesque fierceness in your eyes.
I couldn't leave you there.
That night I carried you up my hill
in a shovel
and buried you
beneath my pomegranate tree.
The next day the neighbors spoke of you briefly.
A dead possum is usually only valuable to God,
but you stay alive in my memory
along with the night sounds
and barking dogs.
Janet Marie Bingham
Copyright © Janet Bingham | Year Posted 2018
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