Poem: The Animals’ Holiday – 09/04/20

The world stops,
one could hear a pin drop
though no one is present to hear its ping.
 
We are all inside,
relegated,
told to be safe
to take care,
to avoid each other as much
to save ourselves now and in the future.
 
The pin drops and in fact
something does hear it
why, it is a little fox
who has taken over his landscape once more,
without the humans,
the grass, the soil, the land
is his.
 
And the rabbits,
why, there they are,
tentatively sniffing,
their whiskers bouncing up and down
like wild antennas in a storm,
judging whether it’s safe to leave their warren,
its safety,
they finally decide, there’s much freedom to be had!
 
And the birds, the birds are startled
by the lack of human activity,
the lessening of smog,
of absence of large groups,
less cars,
and perplexed, they fly observing the scene below,
then, joyously they realise this world is becoming theirs,
more than it had ever been before,
and they swoop and squawk and soar,
tweeting and twittering with as many smiles
as their beaks can form.
 
For how does one know when a bird is smiling?
How does one know when a fox’s heart is free and calling?
How does one know when a rabbit’s frantic heart is now
calm and content?
The ability to leave his home without fear,
and explore the land without a sense of calamity impending?
 
The animals are taking over,
it is their time,
their ability to take their holiday,
while we are inside,
they live it up.

While we’re inside, they’re happily enjoying their Outside.

© 2020 Lauren M. Hancock. All rights reserved.
Photo by Gary Bendig on Unsplash
 

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