Wild, by Carol Peters

Wild

quirquincho
the screaming hairy armadillo
digs the hole I fill daily
next to the garden wall

wild, the young hare
beds among zucchini
shiny black eye

wild fountains of sand
the ocultos architect
underground mazes

wild, the giant snail oozes
across asphalt
pink-rimmed pallium

wild, the parrot flocks
patrol fruiting vineyards
the sky screams

wild foxes, bald with mange
one by one, dead
for the black vultures feeding

wild, the turquoise-spotted toad
buried overnight
in the sprinkler box

wild, the whistling heron
yellow plumes fan
along the riverbed

wild slaty-breasted wood rail
the plumbeous rail
deep in the pond lilies

wild, the vines
bearing cayote squash
scraped & boiled for jam

wild cactus, the prickly pear
long spines spear
my hat’s crown

wild, the verdolaga
common purslane
succulent scourge for the weeder

wild, the dung-feeding beetles
noon mists of grasshopper
palm-sized bats at dusk

wild pink-spotted hawkmoth
wings battering bathroom tile
under the cat’s paws

wild, the tyrant flycatcher
morning’s choral voice
benteveo
benteveo