Saturday Morning Prayer

Despite chipmunks’ agility and speed, they frequently become prey

For foxes, owls, hawks, raccoons, weasels, snakes...,*

... and teenagers hurling mostly-empty beer cans

Onto the gravel shoulder late Friday night, reaching again into

The backseat cooler, joyfully unaware of the hit and run.

... and someone’s grandmother inching homeward after a

Third appointment with the chemo assistant

Her dying husband still flirts with,

Braking well before the curve

And the dip in the road, but unable to stop when it counted,

Stoic at the untimely moment.

... and the dad, late from work, who will

Hustle mac&cheese into his five-year-old’s belly

(It’s his Friday night.) before soccer practice,

Where the boy will wisely plant himself near the field’s edge

So not to get run over by the devouring scrum.

Chipmunks are thought to have excellent

Senses of vision, smell, and hearing.*

The curve too sharp, the dip too steep. Tire-sound must have

Whirled over and around its understanding. Otherwise?

... and I, walking early on this Saturday morning in July,

Undertake the carnage, fifteen steps into the woods,

Feeling its weight, risking Lyme, and laying the body

On a bed of dried leaves.

Up ahead the road is clear.

But it’s still early.

*Galloway, H. & Striatus, T. (2011). Eastern Chipmunk. University of Virginia’s Mountain Lake Biological Center.