Pickle’s paws and a lettuce that was not a squirrel

Pit pat pat pat pat

Pickle’s four paws

Delicately,

Determinedly,

Delightedly,

Death-defyingly pit pat patting against

Tarmac

The path to the park

Oh heaven

Pit patter pat pat pat

Pit patter pat pattern.

This evening beginning the ends

Of summer, sends

A light summer shower, we

Leave the house

Start

Down the road,

Following code my

Heart

Mutters,

The clumsy words

It utters

And stutters

Hesitating at the curb of a choice or decision

Momentarily loses its voice or its vision

Before again

The old refrain:

Pit pat pat pat pat

Pickle’s four paws

Delicately,

Determinedly,

Delightedly,

Death-defyingly pit pat patting against

Tarmac

Here now and always

And always already

The path to the park

Oh heaven

Pit patter pat pat pat

Pit patter pat pattern.

And it’s true

This summer’s almost done

We had some summer fun

But now it’s nearly done

The fun.

But do not cry,

Look! The sky…

It’s so, so beautiful,

You, silly old fooly-ful.

Is there time now

Is there time now to ask,

(Pit pat pat temptation

Of the question)

Did we sniff each blade of grass?

Did we chase each butterfly?

Does it matter that we never caught the grey squirrel

That always eluded us:

Its smaller paws

Snatched it from jaws victorious

Repeatedly?

Repeatedly.

Let us pause and pause let us

Interpose between this and that some artificial

Hiatus

(Pause)

Is it the trying

Or the loving

That counts

That amounts

To something worthwhile

As the sun’s last limpid rays

Announce again the end of end of days?

Pit pat pat pit pit patter

Listen to the birds sitting in the trees

Amid rustling leaves

Their endless cheap, cheap chatter.

And again let us pause again pause let us

Let us

Eat this abandoned lettuce

Instead

It is quite dead

But also

It is crunchy and munch-y

It is green not obscene

Neither king nor queen

Nor a poor

Commoner, not

Better or worse

Just what it is

Magnificent

Munificent

Not living but oh so

Giving,

Thank you, lettuce,

Thanks for being like that, thank you for giving yourself without flashy accoutrements

Without a fancy pants hat or prophesies of perfect health, just crunchy munch-y honesty,

Just now you see me now you don’t,

Just now you eat me now you swallow

Not any hollow

Silly promises of something nicer to come,

This is already bliss

This is already substantially nice

Dear lettuce, thank you, thank you for your growing

And, thank you, for this – your

Selfless sacrifice

Thank you for giving these jaws something real upon which to chew

Not a squirrel perhaps but something tasty and new.

It’s quite a thrill to kill you, lettuce

It doesn’t matter you were already dead –

We’ll be doing this for ever

Regardless of the weather.

And even though you’re not a squirrel, either grey or red

I am kind of glad you are simply you

I think we’re meant to be together

It is strange but, pit pat, oh so true

And

Pit pat pat pat pat

Pickle’s four paws

Delicately,

Determinedly,

Delightedly,

Death-defyingly pit pat patting against

Tarmac

The path from the park

Street lights, stars and dark

Home now

Oh heaven,

Oh very heaven,

Pit patter pat pat pat

Pit patter pat pattern.