The Rabbit’s First Snow Poem by Sheena Blackhall

It was soft as the fluff
Of the birth nest deep in the burrow
White and silent
Chilling to the touch

It lay like a loose skin
On the roofs of trees
It bent the fronds of bracken
Like Carmelites praying

The rabbit’s paws were muffs
Mute on the woodland floor
Where the snow held tell tale tracks
From each dropped paw

The hawk’s forensic eyes
Were on the case in an instant
Prints never lie

The verdict, a black cap affair
Came out of the blue
Red on white, under the tumbling snow