A squirrel hurls
itself forth
from a blossom
of the eldest
poplar tree
in the vicinity
to a younger
specimen, digging
into the suppler bark
and scaling the tree
like it’s nothing
until it twitches
and clutches at air,
missing solid matter,
falls ass-backwards
for seventy-five feet,
and is caught
by a hiker who
saw this transpire
and thought about
letting the furball
drop to the ground–
it would have bounced.
WHARVED 