“Life is a game, play it.”

Mother Theresa

Inspired by Kate Clifford’s Poem,

Our Footsteps

A gentle white snow had fallen

Steadily all through the night

I gazed out my front window

And my heart filled with delight

The world outside was now covered

With a fresh and sparkling white top

Everything appeared so pure and pristine

It seemed that even time had now stopped

I hurriedly bundled myself up

And stepped out my front door

Magically it was far more serene

Than it had ever felt to me before

I picked up the newspaper in my drive

And soon spotted the courier’s tracks

Then I saw my neighbor’s boot prints

Before I sauntered around to the back

There spread before me in the new snow

Were numerous and fascinating tracks

I quickly knelt down in the fresh snow

And admired life’s chessboard out back

The tracks I eagerly spied

In the freshly fallen snow

Were left directly in front

Of my basement windows

I identified the distinct marks

Left by a very large feral cat

And those made by a red fox

There was no doubt about that

As I now eagerly peered all around

I saw many other wondrous sights

A raccoon an opossum two cottontails

A deer and a coyote had all visited in the night

I soon wondered if they had peered inside

Wondering about the world of men

I eventually began to ponder

If they would visit us again

As I knelt there in the snow studying those tracks

I wondered where these creatures had been going

And I also knew that humanity had cruelly altered

Many of their ancient life patterns without knowing

Most of the wild animals in most of our urban areas

Have been forced to become creatures of the night

Attempting to survive in man’s cruel daylight world

Has quickly brought more tragedy to their plight

I also eventually discovered that they had all stopped

Directly beneath my bird feeder hung from an old pole

They had been pawing and sniffing for traces of food

In the deep dark winter’s night and frigidly bitter cold

I soon filled my old wooden bird feeder

And sprinkled more food on the ground

Hoping these creatures would soon return

Realizing an urban refuge they’d found

Each and every one of these wild critters

Was engaged in this game called life too

And hopefully just a tiny bit of kindness

Might make their night moves less blue