Bobcat

By John I. Blair

Today as I go walking
In the park beside the river,
At every bend along the trail
There is a tantalizing chance
I’ll meet a bobcat padding lazily,
Its every movement eloquent of wild.

Snowy egrets with dagger beaks
Stalk our backyard ponds
When fifty years ago
I used to only hear of them
Surviving deep
Within the Everglades.

In the news this week
I saw that coyotes now
Are entertaining cats for brunch
And taking dachshunds out to dine
Around a lakeshore neighborhood
Not far enough from here.

The edge between the wild and us
Is fading to inconsequence;
And though this represents
A certain kind of victory,
It’s a sea change in relationships
I doubt we’re really ready for.

©2006 John I. Blair