A red-tailed hawk stood on a fence post
that separated a rural highway
from a cornfield.
Her head turned back and forth
as a hundred bicyclists
with numbers on their backs
blurred past not seeing
the statuesque bird
or the mice that searched for food
around the corn stalks.
One mouse dared to rush
to the sentinel post and back.
copyright © 2021 Kenneth P. Gurney
Umflop 