across the dark country lane  

 headlight high-beams caught him in the glare 

 lookin twice before he crossed the road in front of me   

 a  sleek, ring-tailed bobcat slid

under the neighbor’s new, shiny                 

out-of-place

automatic fence….

he looked over his shoulder at me

just once, but straight in the eye

daring me to breathe a word

or try to  talk him out of it

or make any moves to 

initiate interference

“don’t fuck with me”, he whispered under his breath

there’s no disturbing such a focused mission….

travelin’ close to the ground, he was young-ish and

looking like a painter had designed his summer coat

 a careful design, gallery quality perfect markings

over a too-thin belly….

chances are,  he had sniffed out 

a  vague, pavlovian memory of scent

and the dinner bell was clanging…

chances are he was on his way

to sample the dual yappy

small-dog buffet  that lives  inside that gate 

such tasty morsels for a late summer’s night snack..

country life is quiet       instead of gun shots and backfiring low-riders

screech owls yell from pine to pine          one call, mid -flight per night

then later, the  barn owl duet starts singin back-up

while the ridgetop coyote teach the youngsters

the fine technique of a midnite howl

exciting the dogs who then respond in frenzied tones

before dozing back to sleep…

wrap up in this blanket with me

high on this west-faced country deck

the dark skies are beckoning

listen to the nightsounds’ snarffles and scratchings

while something flutters in the black bamboo

settling in for the night….

quiet!   the young, motherless deer threesome

are back  searching the low hanging

branches for low-hanging apples…

sleep with me inside these nightsounds tonite

its too hot for bed

too sticky to be tossing

’round in a hot down comforter…

hear it?   its starting

the orchestra pit is warming up

sensing our quiet

a  nighttime serenade….