Encroachment
The squirrel sliding down my scullery wall
Frightening feeding birds with bold impunity
The field mouse waiting for their scraps to fall
The hedgehog snuffling in the tidied leaves
Warned me
Of the forest’s dark beyond my fence
Awaiting opportunity.
If the wood returns once more
To make of my hard-won bower a mockery
Will I hear in the night the quiet snore
Of the great bear sleeping on the compost heap
See once again
The grey wolf in the moonlight
Standing
On the rockery?
