Moon and Her Squirrel Acquaintance
Winter of 2020 -

Eye to eye, like in a mirror, they stare,
morning after morning, Moon and her squirrel 

acquaintance, through sliding glass.  

sunflower seeds and walnuts
plated on the snow provide
a delicious lure, a simple cure

for this long, worrying, winter.
I have been warned there is
no hope of friendship,

their near acquaintance doomed
by spring’s opening doors.
A cat hunts till the end.

Yet, Sir Stephen said, “while
there is life, there is hope.”
Doors will open,

screened to be sure,
each day a little more.
The sun will warm the deck,

melt snow, unfurl our luminous
green and blue world.  Perhaps
with sunflower seeds and walnuts

in a distant wood bowl,

a leash to tether Moon,
their near acquaintance

can endure,

eye to eye, morning to morning,

like in a mirror.