Fifty-Fifty

You can have the grackle whistling blackly
              from the feeder as it tosses seed,

If I can have the red-tailed hawk perched
              imperious as an eagle on the high branch.

You can have the brown shed, the fieldmice
              hiding under the mower, the wasp's nest on the door,

If I can have the house of the dead oak,
              its hollowed center and feather-lined cave.

You can have the deck at midnight, the possum
              vacuuming the yard in its white prowl,

If I can have the yard of wild dreaming, pesky
              raccoons, and the roaming, occasional bear.

You can have the whole house, window to window,
              roof to soffits to hardwood floors,

If I can have the screened porch at dawn,
              the Milky Way, any comets in our yard.

Copyright © 2004 Patricia Clark All rights reserved
from Smartish Pace
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission