Animal Mind

“Every phenomenon on earth is symbolic.  

 And each symbol is an open gate, through 

which the soul can enter the inner part of 

the world, where you and I and day and night 

are all one."

~Hermann Hesse

                

Hiding in plain sight,

two hares in a winter field 

disguised as snow

draw predators

to read the

fine prints

of their

lives.

By stopping

in their tracks,

they tempt

fate.

If at night we bind 

herbs to our feet

in an act of alchemy 

encouraging the release

of our fears 

because we are

predisposed

to petrification, then

why not

hibernate in this

same drift to wait

out the storm, 

improbably warm 

beneath a cold

blanket above.

Our fur, 

beauty itself,

acts as

clothing.

Sleep is a time machine

and at night some

of us  

are map makers, 

by day, cartographers

navigating our own

insular dimensions,

ingesting everything 

seen, smelt, and heard

 wherever we go;

another reason for

hiding in snow.

As silence is purity,

our quiet has purpose,

dreaming adventures 

inside the forests 

of ourselves.

These dreams 

never last, 

so we pause

to sniff the air

one last time

before heading 

North.

12/14/21