Wildlife In The Garden Poem by Donal Mahoney

Birds and possums,
coons and squirrels
frequent my wife’s garden.

Dawn to dusk I spy on them
from an upstairs window
next to my computer.

They remind me of the city
poor foraging in Dumpsters.
This morning a coon dispatched

a possum that had
frightened away two feral cats
I feed every day at 4 a.m.

When I went out on the deck
and waved my arms to dispatch
the coon, he sat on his rump

and stared at me with a glare
I saw 50 years ago in the eyes
of a girl who became a nun.

She is still a nun today.
She said cut it out back then.
As did the coon today.