A clutch of hair is puffed out of place
on the squirrel’s upper back,
giving her tufty ears a companion
Her auburn tail twitches as she digs for grubs

The cardinal’s nest is woven with strings,
              abandoned
Baler’s twine fray pokes curiously from the underside

White pine bark seeps its lifeblood
from an unhealed cavity
Crystallizing, capturing sluggish ants

Rain whispers down through branches
thumping softly into dirt, crackling in leaves