Thud and Rebound (poem)

 Thud and Rebound

You scaled to manageable size

Viewed panoramically

With bulging eyes

Spurting to the wall and back, puzzled

As you gulp air, thud and rebound

You make your daily round

A baited hook is hardly needed

You will rise and gape

To the hand that feeds you

Finding yourselves both comfortable and smart

Arbiters of humanities and arts

Your artificial manner not reflected

By all mirrors

But projected from your home-crafted interior

A caravan on tin-rimmed wheels

Lurid hues and musical gears

Grinds thin grooves in your serious asphalt

Veering you towards the styrofoam cups

And cigarette butts

That jury of your peers

The village cat learned to gauge its moment

Authority’s broom sweeps the front porch stoop

The cat jumps and the pigeons scatter

For a moment, you thought it mattered

Newly Hatched

(2014, Stephanie Foster)