Sometimes I fall into a fable state,
human-into-animal. Once I walked heavilyaway from my job, wagging my heavy head:
elephant. Cackling minions threw pebbles at my
wrinkled buttocks. I could have turned
and run over them. Didn't. Another day--this:
Somebody was talking at me in front
of a group, apparently scoring clever points.
But I'd lost the topic. Wordish noises
from her mouth might as well have been
wind. I was Cat--dozing in the pride
of my mind, not hungry, a little
sleepy, there and not there. Someone
elbowed me when I started to purr--
and before I hissed.
I've spent many days as a badger, digging,
fretting, rooting around, growling to myself,
making a worried mess of my mental
burrow, getting lots of badger-writing done.
Dog, snake, the classic fox....
I tell you, friend, some fable days are sometimes
what I need--to stay human.
(revision) Hans Ostrom 2022
