The Lynx and the Hare

"THE LYNX AND THE HARE" by John Grey

The lynx knows exactly what it is,

inhabits deep north woods snow,

some place that maps can’t find,

on a hunting foray

for snowshoe hare,

no plotting, merely instinct,

leaving transitive prints

in white wilderness pavements. 

What’s in store is bound to happen,

the hare pawing away at snow

to get at grass shoots,

the lynx stalking

where long shadows take their cue

from the last of the freezing sun,

no time wasted, no excuses,

no test run in the mind,

merely a leap,

a grasp of furry haunches,

a squeeze of talons,

as if to make the point

of predator to prey.

No human lives here.

The balance is immaculately maintained.

I can tell the story

but not as a requirement.

***

BIO: John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident. Recently published in That, Muse, Poetry East and North Dakota Quarterly with work upcoming in Haight-Ashbury Literary Journal, Thin Air, Dalhousie Review and the Dunes Review.