05/24/2026
Why Am I
in battle with a squirrel this morning?
He is a serious circus performer, also a clown
a clever character actor, also a daredevil,
with tricks up sleeves he doesn’t even have.
Maybe I should admire his many talents.
He sits with his arms resting on his bunched out belly
his hands adept at twirling sunflowers seeds
meant for all my bird friends
the ones he has managed to scare off with his many tricks,
appearing out of nowhere
leaping from high wires at warp speed
aping chimpanzees
swaggering and swinging from limb to narrowest limb.
He is a gifted thief with a criminal mind.
Maybe I should be admiring his god given gifts?
And he talks!
Especially when I rush at him as I tear across studio
confronting him face to face.
Through the windowpane we glare at each other and
our own reflections too.
“Back off babe…” he warns “I’m eating here.”
I guess he liked that Dustin Hoffman movie too.
Maybe he’s more talented than me
plodding away every morning at this easel
revealing my own gifts or lack thereof.
Maybe I’m jealous.
Maybe I have some soul searching to do.
Maybe I should consider my reflection in the window,
as a reminder:
scolding him, raising my blood pressure to the boiling point,
is pointless.
Maybe the visits he pays me are gifts
Maybe I’ve taken him for granted
like I have so many times in my life
looked a gift squirrel, or maybe a friend….in the mouth.
How rude is that?
I back away from the window and grab a bag of peanuts
return to find the squirrel with his tail flag waving off predators
me included.
I open the window and hand him my gift.
He shows me how to make efficient use of the shell
and the nut too.
That would be me.
