May 2025 Editor's Choice: "Tracker"

You become another filtered beam of moonlight Weaving your way through scattered tree trunks Stepping over rocks, tiny rivulets of cold streams You are the night, the starlight and cooling breeze Invisible to all but the most attuned, watchers of Everything natural, observant of movement, night Like the ghostly deer, cougar or fox, low-flying owl Eyes reflecting long, low, slow, throaty purr/growl Midnight personified, insomniac wandering wide Because I am concerned for you, should you lose

Your way or turn your ankle, I follow close behind Quietly, so not to startle, you don't know I'm there But in the morn, by sunlight, fog and drops of dew You will see an extra set of footsteps, trailing you.

© SHIRLEY ROSE U.S.