Squirrel Poem by Aplier Hao

I dont know why
I just ought to write
It doesnt have to rhyme
Or follow any set lines

Out on my back porch
I saw a squirrel come by
It came up to the wooden steps
Waiting patiently, curiously at the bottom
Then it turned its head
Looked right at me
I looked back
Into its eyes
Its mind
Its soul
Its life

The life of a squirrel is short
It pales next to mine
Which pales next to time
It runs to make it through its life
As I do
It's tininess is meager in my city
As my tininess is meager in this galaxy

They say that in the moment
Before you pass on in death
Your life flashes before you
Whether or not that is true
It doesn't matter
To me

But to this squirrel
Its life is everything it has
Everything that makes it who it is
This I just feel to be true
And that does matter
To it

It came up a step or two
As I held out my hand
Another step
Then dash away
Back to its safe land

I wait for it
Patiently
Curiously
Knowing that I'll do no it harm
But it cant possibly know the same
It has its own life
Short and meager
But profoundly important
To think of and protect

Its ignorance would cause no trouble
If it had not known curiosity first
It saw me with my hand, not yet moved
And simply couldn't stay away
It had to venture forth again
Till it was but a step away

Now fear or curiosity
Both fighting for control
It was terrified
That it might die
By this stranger to its world
Not knowing what I might bring
Its fear ruled out and courage fell
As it scampered off
To survive another day

Soon it will get caught up again
In the life that it had led
It will have no memory
Of the curiosity it felt when it saw my hand
Or the fear when it came close
Or its ignorance of me, and how I meant no harm

But I, on the other hand, will remember
I will remember our curiosity
I will remember our fear
I will remember our ignorance
And not just of each other
But of what could have been

If when I die
And my life flashes before my eyes
I will finally be able to look back on this
And understand what I should have realized right away
What I should be seeing right now, as I write
But I wont have time to cherish the thought
Or to even hear myself
As I think
'I told you so'