fox squirrel
Sciurus niger
Featured Poem:
Where to Find:
You can see fox squirrels pretty much anywhere, any time on campus. Look up into the tree branches to see if you can find a woody drey (nest).
Resident Expert:
Michael Cramer, Professor of Biology at Notre Dame.
community poems
Squirrel should be one syllable
even tho’ some people
(pedants, really)
insist it Ought be Two, [but
if you Listen to a Squirl
as he chips or trills
or squawks or what
ever they do then it is clear
they are engaged in a Poetry
Unbounden by the rigours
of the “distinctions” made up
by we Children of Pride;
for Squirl there is no Two
or One
there is only Nut(/s),
the One Great All-Nut
that is also Many
and demands Worship
in Clicking Noises that know
neither One nor Two nor
any of their Friends;
And that is All.
Usually.
For most of the year.
Okay, in one part of the year
there is also Love, for Squirrel
(Allegedly or so They say)
Tho’ their Pursuit thereof
is Disgusting, and forbidden
for anyone to Contemplate
who is still a Human Being
with a Self-respecting Heart.
The Holy Squirrel
Two squirrels were fighting and one ran into my feet, I'm sorry, I kicked him, his soft little squirrel belly condemned to my chest. I felt, the whole day. Can someone tell me the memory of the squirrel? How far can they see? Would squirrel forgive me if I told him that when I tried to move out of the way, squirrel pivoted too fast. It was not my fault. Do squirrels pray? Do they have mercy? Guilt is a privilege. In the spring, the trees bloom and the squirrel homes blow away. When I was a kid, my Mom used to clear trails in the pine needles for me to play. The squirrels would watch from the edge as I moved fast, kicking up dirt, until all the paths were gone.
cheeks for
cheeks for
cheeks for
days
All Pupil
Side-eye, side-step
I watch you
watch me
walk to class.
I think I wouldn’t be so scared
if you weren’t
all pupil.