Hospitality

for moths a gentle pinch of the wings
before release into open air

for bats an inverted bowl, cardboard slid beneath
& a careful opening to night sky

for spiders hours or days of spin & harvest
before a sweep out the door

for gnats on glass a vacuum cleaner bag
where they can feast on concentrated gleanings

for weevils in the grain bin courier delivery
to the compost pile

for ants a drop of clear poison
to carry back to the nest

for coqui frogs the cat's attention

for the cat a door ajar
so she can leave the way she came

Without Me

every night un

tucutucu (gopher-
like rodent) digs &
taps from a gallery
underground, zips
out for green bites

Ctenomys

the head swivels
on una lechucita
(burrowing owl)
statue-like on
a vineyard pole
patrolling the day
for ratones (mice)

Athene cunicularia

the common tero
(lapwing) shrieks
tero-tero all day
on land & on high
all night, bedded
in a low branch of
the willow tree

Vanellus chilensis

las huellas (foot
prints) trace the
route of un zorro
gris (gray fox),
clocking night
across the dunes

Pseudalopex griseus

armadillos

Chaetophractus vellerosa

The Armadillo Story

The armadillos refused to board.
Not only were two places four too few
but Chaeto-4 was nowhere to be found
the morning Noah raised the alarm.
Left behind & two days later
when Chaeto-4 was discovered
at the bottom of a dry acequia,
the family of armadillos climbed:
Phractus, the patriarch, at the head
followed by Chaetos -1 through -4
with Mama Vellerosa swinging
the far tail. Forty days & forty nights,
scarcely ahead of the rising waters,
the armadillos ascended Aconcagua,
each & every one of the 6,962 meters
to the summit, & on the 41st day
they rested. Below them, Noah’s boat
swirled in the currents. Above them
swarmed every species of flying
insects, all refused by Father Noah
in his desire to be rid of stingers &
biters. Thus, the armadillos fed
& fed & fed until the rain stopped,
the waters receded, the land dried,
the armadillos descended, & life
went on as before – dry, hot, godless.

found in Cafayate, Salta, Argentina

A Day in the Life of an Armadillo

for single-malt
a strange attractor

for a full mouthful
an albatross

for the lot underwater
a banana hand

for an abdominal plank
a cerebral cortex

for fluency in Chinese
a balance of payments

for the load of laundry
a tanker truck

for mango malasadas
a cure for miconia

for derring-do
a fish in the coffin

for the inkwell
an alternate life in Philadelphia

for a John Deere
the gold crowns

for the groceries
a Mexican divorce

photos by C. Vollum

reincarnation

I don't believe in it
but I'd like to

I'd come back six feet tall
just as smart but stronger
no screw or nut could resist me

I wouldn't come back as slime mold
or a banana slug
but a lyrebird, yes, or a bowerbird
or a northern harrier

northern harrier, Circus Cyaneus, Port Morris, TX

also a fox
ducking into thorny brush
at the sight of me on a peruano

South American gray fox, gray zorro, Lycalopex griseus

if not for filth, a pig
if not for dumb, a curly lamb

the lambs visit Ginny every morning [photo V. Biddle]

also I'd come as a spider goat
willing to be milked
for sutures

spider goat, Capra hircus aranea [photo www.news.com.au]