Short Muskrat Poems

Giant gator grabbing
Convulsing, chunks crashing
twisting, twirling, thrashing
muskrat mammal munched....

Read More

Senryu 9/23/2016

muddy past

mud and sticks mounded
before the solstice tinged moon
the old muskrat knew


John G. Lawless
9/23/2016...

Read More

Brat cat scat pet 
look at black rat 
Muskrat packrat 
Cool cat placemat 
Coon cat d'etat
Does that true cat
... slouch hat snaw at

11/10/19
Written by James Edward Lee Sr...

Read More

Alligator attacks prey
Lunges out of the bayou
Loud head slap
Intense jaw clamps down
Gripping death roll
Another muskrat say good bye
Tail spin immobolized
On it's way down
River bottom cries....

Read More

kitten,dog,beluga whale
something with a furry tale
a muskrat or a cuddly dog
something that lives out in the bog

I think I'll choose a lochness monster
I'll become a famous rockstar
I''ll live in a wet,wet bog
I'll eat just like a slimey frog...

Read More

Brilliant for sure
Perhaps an enigma
Monotony’s cure
Cultural stigma
Secure transactions
Visions of Mars
Free-speech imperatives,
Self-driving cars
Staunch libertarian
Doge crypto bump
But buying a Tesla?
That’s voting for Trump
...

Read More

The river’s low
it’s flowing slow
the Egret’s feet are dry

he hunts a frog
beneath a log
as sundrenched shadows sigh

a muskrat stuck
in oatmeal muck
struggles to the shore

as I drift by
I start to cry
our river is no more

John G. Lawless
©8/11/2022...

Read More

The fish know I’m coming

Turtles line the logs
Swans parade in pre-game frenzy
Geese honk from the cheep seats
Muskrat groundskeepers tend the “field”
Bullfrog-voiced announcers “harrumph” the goings on
Dragonfly vendors work the crowd

The fish know I’m coming

The game is on…….


John G .Lawless
©6/11/2017...

Read More

Before the day turns into night
Bullfrogs quietly rehearse their “harrumphs”
Dragonflies draw slowly closer to shore
Mosquitoes hone their epees
Bats line the runway awaiting take off
In the lengthening shadows an owl rolls its neck
As field mice roll the dice
A lone muskrat leaves no wake
The marshlands chorus warms up
...

Read More

I think he is old, someone said.
Why?
Because he has a cane.
He is young, argued another. He is short.

My grandma is short, and she is old.
My grandma is tall.
He has a funny face.
I don’t think he’s human.

They weren’t wrong.
He was a muskrat with a cane.
A wise one who understood English.
They are young, he told himself. Don’t take offense....

Read More

A soft mist clings to the horizon
A lazy sun bleeding through it
Seeping into the fading darkness

A yellow-orange streak darts
Across the silence of the pond
Shouting to the feathered choir

A Sunflower yawns
Tipping its head slightly
Wiggling its roots

A weary Muskrat sighs
Too late comes the dawn
Too soon the sunset

A rose petal falls
Rippling the pond
A caterpillar dreams of wings...

Read More

Hush hush busy muskrat;
all you bucktoothed beavers
gnaw on unheard, work you unseen.

The sleek panther is stalking
slipping silently through the feathergrass
an angel of hunger is in its eyes.

You timid rabbit and fawn, be gone!

That creeping killer can stalk the wind
it smells your breath,
the faint odor of death
is already upon it.

Quick you nibblers, you green grazers
Your time comes ever nearer -
flee now, be gone!...

Read More

Dawn’s Joyful Arc

The old bridge is gone
as is the rapid chatter
destiny’s wheels,
steel on steel progress
streaming a black ribbon
of hope’s hubris.

The river rose up –
a revolt against
the cold black film –
perhaps.  More likely
in self defense
as empty words
now filled the silence.

A swan sits upon
a mounded nest
eyeing the muskrat.
In the  mist
dawns joyful arc
bridges the river.


©10/23/2018

for – Rainbows Poetry Contest...

Read More

Who is she? We wondered as she pranced around foraging for carrion.
She is a blue-eyed witch I think.
The BEW turns and stares at me; she looks like a wild muskrat cat faerie.
I am terrified, for I have never met such a creature.
She appears to be royalty.
I stop eating my mouse and offer it to her.
She gobbles it up and then stares.
She is a beauty, but a tyrant.
I run, hoping she is not chasing me.
Cats like this break your back and start with your head....

Read More

nature created me, defines me, emboldens me, holds me.
I am one with the stars, the oaks, the meadow and butterflies.
a tree hugger, a naturalist, I am uplifted by the outdoors.
a female Thoreau, I live in the woods gladly, feeling spirit.

surrounded by fox, squirrel, deer, raccoon, and muskrat,
I have found turtles, snakes, lizards, and ducks in Kansas
cardinals, blue jays, wrens and woodpeckers surround me.
mystical orbs are photographed by me around my dragonflies....

Read More

Fox, finches and fireflies fluttered out of the woods
Into a clearing that cleverly chose species of these three
Faeries, elves and gnomes watched as closely as they could 
It was time for the annual musical mystery forest jamboree

Who will be the winners? The badgers asked the rest.
Curious sailors and pirates came in from beyond the docks. 
Racoon and muskrat slicked their fur down to look their best. 
Whoever it is, they will have trouble winning the crown from Fox....

Read More

Stonelick Lake is tranquil
Where cattails grow so tall
It's where the muskrat feed
Before winds of Autumn call

Along its banks, deer forage
With dark and darting eyes
They listen to birds sing out
So predators won't surprise

A boy wears his dad's straw hat
Stands in the cool lake grass
Spends the day, cane pole held
To fish in this lake of glass

The falling sun chills the air
As birds glide in color red
The boy's chores never done
He fished at the lake instead

11/9/17...

Read More