Raccoon - Jonathan Dickinson State Park
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I was driving
to town.
I rounded a curve and jammed the
brakes.
There was a raccoon walking away
Right in the middle of the road.
I slowed down to the speed of her
gait.
I had a good chance to look at
her.
I determined she was a she
With a dark outer coat.
About twenty feet and she turned
To cross to the left side of the
road.
And as she turned, she stopped
for a second
And looked right at me
Before scurrying into the woods.
The way she looked haunted me
All the way into town.
It was a look of judgment.
It was a lucid look.
It was a look that made me ask
the her-in-me,
Why
are you glaring at me?
Didn't
I slow down for you?
It was the middle of the day.
When wild animals appear in broad
daylight
We automatically think --
Rabies!
After-all, wouldn't animals have
to be crazy
To risk an encounter with a human
being
In broad daylight?
But this raccoon was intensely
self-possessed.
I saw it,
I saw her intelligence.
I saw judgment.
Later, I had to make another trip
Into town, having forgotten
Something on my list.
This time, as I rounded that
curve
I was more attentive,
Even though I didn't expect to
see her again.
I was looking for something
And I found it.
There on the side of the road,
A dead raccoon.
It wasn't her.
It was larger than her and its
coat was lighter.
Such experiences make me wish
I could push the reset button,
Go back and start over.
And maybe that's what I was
trying to do
In repeating my drive to town.
I didn't hit her mate (or her
friend
Or whoever it was.)
But to her, we are all the same.
I don't blame her for profiling
me!
We're all guilty
Of driving around the bend at 40
mph.
So who has rabies?
Who is the anomaly on this
planet,
The dangerous crazy,
Thinking we own the world,
Foaming at the mouth,
Sipping our latte?
(Article changed on November 25, 2018 at 19:48)
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