Chapter 1 - Untitled

Squirrels On Campus

I.
I watch squirrels
like some people watch trains.
I pay close attention to their shape
the tone and pitch of their chittering
where they leap from
the color of their fur
the way they carry what they find.

II.
The squirrels that live on campus
do not move like other squirrels.
Most squirrels scamper and bounce.
The campus squirrels either scamper
OR
they bounce.
No alternating movements.

III.
In real life, squirrels do not
wear trench coats and masks and slouch hats.
Nor do they wear aviator goggles.
This is not a failing on the part of Nature because
what the hell
would a real squirrel want with a slouch hat?

IV.
Black
Grey
Red
Brown
Squirrels don't hang out together.
Is this some kind of
squirrel discrimination?
Or do the brown squirrels
just happen to prefer acorns
over pinecones?

V.
I caught a squirrel
staring at my math textbook.
I was sitting under a tree
and he was dropping acorn bits on my quadratic equations.
He gave me a blank look
then shoved the acorn in his mouth
and jumped out of the tree.

VI.
I don't usually kiss squirrels
but if I touched my lips to its nose
I would find a confused undergrad
wrapped in my arms like when you kiss a frog you see a prince
I'm late for class
because I've to much time focusing on the squirrel

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