Buttercup twirls her indigo and carmine frock,

then red-robin minces down to the creek bed.

Her lion’s mane shines

like a persimmon.

Squatting she snaps fiddleheads

for a sumptuous, gourmet dinner.

A bobcat up the cliff freezes

and the forest stops.

Alert, she jerks up her chin.

He’s a buffalo-steak trudging the creek bed.

She stands with pearl oyster teeth

and the gaze of a snow leopard.

C.J. Prince

2016.4.6