Fox and Other Poems

By Leda Nichole

Fox

clever little trickster

unconcerned with 

gods or monsters

or Mortals

she does what she wants

with no conscience

to hold her back

Regret

the little flower does not care 

if today really is today 

or yesterday

or tomorrow

it doesn’t care 

if its leaves are uneven

or the stem grows crooked

its purpose is slow, steady growth

come rain, or wind, or shine

it does not care if it is beautiful

so long as it can survive

and taste the warm light of the sun 

Barn Cat

She is lounging atop a stack of hay

A queen surveying her domain

With an ease 

That comes with living unchallenged. 

A single bulb hangs from the ceiling,

A burnt-out light

That hasn’t glowed in years.

But this does not bother her—

Her senses are sharper than mine,

And she doesn’t need the light.

I’ve reached out my hand

In a gesture of peace, camaraderie…

Why should she care? 

She doesn’t need me. She doesn’t

Want my friendship.

She has everything already.

She’s fine on her own. 

Let her lord over the population of rodents

And snakes, and birds. 

Let her have her barn, her hay.

Let her have her kittens and her senses

And her silence.

Leda Nichole (she/her) is an MFA student at SUNY Buffalo with a BA in Writing from Ithaca College and an MA in Irish Folklore and Ethnology from University College Dublin. She writes in the fields of poetry, flash fiction, and short story, with much of her work being centered around the natural world, elements of everyday life, and themes from folklore and mythology