I saw a grey squirrel scampering
up a sweet gum tree with a plastic
yogurt cup clenched between his teeth.
disgusted by how our waste harms
the wildlife we share space with,
I thought to take a picture with my phone,
so that I could post in on my social media feed
and publicly shame fellow members of my species.
But the squirrel, delighted to satiate his hunger,
did not want to pose for me, and I had to interrupt
my three-year-old’s piggyback ride to even get to my phone,
which didn’t make him happy,
and I lost the squirrel somewhere above
the overlapping branches.
The malady of the cell phone pic. It was more than the yogurt container; that we as earth caregivers have failed. I read other poems from your marathon and I like the raw edge evident in your work. I hope you consider submission to the anthology!