I LUNCH WITH A SQUIRREL

She’s chattering loudly

in the full spruce tree,

long before I can see her.

I stand,

honoring her vigor,

enjoying her lengthy announcements.

I ask permission to pass.

She chatters on,

permission not granted.

I stand.

She comes into eye contact,

six feet away.

Why would you want to pass?

Am I not beautiful, fascinating?

I drop my consciousness

into my heart. I stand.

She comes down the tree

to the base,

now five feet away and

she makes full eye contact.

Deciding to trust me,

she scampers off to her larder

and returns with a pinecone.

She hunches,

beautifully filled out.

Her tail, fully feathered

lies along her back,

the black tip,

an ostrich feather

blowing in the wind.

One pinecone isn’t enough.

She returns to her cupboard

and eats a second three branches high,

debris dispersing in the wind.

I shift on my feet.

She doesn’t notice.

She and I,

so proud of each other,

So clearly simply

separate flowers,

each in full bloom,

in the garden of Creation.

Lizette Estelle Stiehr

June 19, 2010

Above Liberty Falls, Chitna Alaska