Lucille Clifton




Fox

          …The foxes are hungry, who could blame them
          for what they do…
                                             — “Foxes in Winter”
                                                 Mary Oliver
who
can blame her for hunkering
into the doorwells at night,
the only blaze in the dark
the brush of her hopeful tail,
the only starlight
her little bared teeth?

and when she is not satisfied
who can blame her for refusing to leave,
for raising the one paw up and barking,
Master Of The Hunt, why am i
not feeding, not being fed?