Today was a fine day.

I did not see the bloody snout of a possum
peeking from a plastic sack on a New England bridge.

That was yesterday
and today was different.

Tonight,
the possum with the bloody snout and fire-
needle teeth visited me while I slept.
Her face had owl-black eyes and no smile.

Was the blood hers                mine                or ours?

Mother warned me
about smiles and fire teeth.
Do not play with those animals.
I don’t know why she would say that.

But she did.
And she would know possums are marsupials,
and that they are only seen in the dark with owls.

On an ice-moon night a possum and her babies hung
by their tails on the bird feeder.
She had no blood on her face.

I baked a pie
for an owl
that a possum would not like.

***

Dan Tobin is a father of four who has been to the peak of the highest mountains in North America. He was born in Hawaii before it was a state, and his favorite poet is Gary Snyder.