Green Peas at Stake

The Red Fox

We strolled in the woods
arm in arm, like an offering
of ourselves, kindling
hope to live within
each other's dreams,
until at the clearing
a rusty reddish fur moved,
then twisted about to lock eyes
with you, and the fox,
after wagging its white tipped tail,
fell motionless, dying
upwards into our lives;
next, a phantom glow flashed
from your eyes as if a dart
aiming at the life we could not plan.
The shock piled like the leaves
under my feet; thickening
my prickly blood and I
marveled at your distress,
letting out a sigh so fractional
you could not hear.
That day after the Red Fox,
you left, rolling with
the tide of your transformation,
a lover hovering over your own image,
to stare into the portent in Red Fox eyes,
still bright as if alive.


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For "Poets' Practice Pad" 
Prompt: Write a poem about an animal as if it's an omen of good or bad. (Poe's Raven, for example)