Ungrateful Beasts (The Smile on the Face of the Fox)

I strode the length of Cobbler’s lane,
Over Flashers Field I crossed,
Lush green gave way to rust and ash
From Ironworks sadly lost.
I scaled the grey embankment there,
My way a metalled rage
Of drams enmeshed in twisted rail,
Ditched by a long gone age.


Arriving at the arid ridge
I sensed an acrid smell,
A fox had climbed the other side,
We froze, both in a spell.
As close apart we calmly stood
With glistening eyes of gold,
He deeply searched my fragile soul
For mercy to behold?


I raised my gun, but took no aim,
He was, by far, too near,
He dropped his head, but stood his ground
And showed no sign of fear.
I could not kill that noble beast
And that he knew so well,
It was he who was in full control
As he sauntered down the dell.


Later as I tilled the dell
I saw him waiting there,
Reclining at the place we met-
Not a grave, I’d no cross to bear,
I leapt down from my iron steed
And climbed the ashen hill,
But making no attempt to move,
He tried my strength of will.
As I took his dare and moved on him,
His face curved in a smile,
As if to say farewell my friend,
Then loped down Lover’s mile.


That evening, late, I checked the yard,
I could not hear a sound,
Then I saw my twelve white hens
All Strewn about the ground.
Mangled guts and severed heads
Lay in a slime of blood,
Feathers floating in moonlight,
Phosphorescent in the mud.
Then I saw him standing there,
Grim form against the moon,
That raised its head, howled high to heaven
A deathly dirge. …... A terrifying tune.


Next day I cleared the sorry waste,
And closed the silent run,
I pondered why a man or beast
Considered murder so much fun.
With heavy heart I turned away,
And looked towards the gate,
There, to my surprise, he’d come to gloat
Or, maybe, my anger to inflate.
I raised the gun but aimed above
The cruel destructive brute
He stood still awhile….. then flashed a smile
Our bond betrayed …..its end….. absolute.