It is a Decrepit Back Porch.

It is a Decrepit Back Porch

Bob Komives

Squirrels live in my back-porch roof.
It is a decrepit porch that should be torn down,
but they do not wish to leave.
Their grandparents grew up there.
(Tradition is important to squirrels.)
When I complain to them
they complain to me.
They chatter at me
for the aunts and uncles I took to corn fields.
I protest,
life for squirrels must be nicer in the country.
Besides, I say,
you pay no rent and you scare my cat.
They protest that I do not spill enough cat food;
they must import peanuts
from the yard of my neighbor who feeds them.
So, why don't you live over there, I ask?
We tried, they say,
but we got lazy
forgot the skills:
climbing poles,
scaling wires,
defying owls,
climbing fences,
flying tree to tree,
limb to limb,
fence to tree to wire to porch.
Some debates cannot be won.
It seems
my decrepit back porch keeps squirrels sound,
alert,
and around.

Bob Komives :: Fort Collins © 2002 :: It is a Decrepit Back Porch :: 0209