He took a leap of faith once
splat!
landed flat on his face
He dusted himself off
but he couldn’t dust off the bruises
they stuck around until they turned
that peculiar shade of yellow-green
He watched the squirrels one day
when he was passing through the park
fearless little things
taking leaps of faith a hundred times a day
What was their secret?
a better sense of timing?
a strange ability?
dumb luck?
He wasn’t brave or lucky or skilled like the squirrels
He never leapt again
ktn © 2011
28 comments:
The squirrel sure is agile and light. We have to take tumbles. Some may take time to recover considering the age factor. Great pic and great verse!
Hank
Hi Talon .. the surefootedness of animals is amazing as they dart and jump around .. us we just try our luck .. and dumbly it quite often fails ... practise can help. But usually (not always) better to leave off - have a good week .. lovely tale within the poem .. we can pick ourselves up dust ourselves off and start all over again ...Hilary
Aww sweet. Some of us fall on our faces and never try again.... Others keep trying until they exceed their expectations. Nice tale, Talon.
I like this poem very much. You express so much with just a few words.
And the picture!! Incredible!!
By the way, I am a bit slow in blogging these days - way too much work to be done. I'm counting down the days that are left to go until I go on Christmas holiday (19 left to go) :)
nice...the picture is a great capture and a nice story to go with it too...sad for him though choosing to never risk again...what a sad life that would be...love me some squirrels though...
You give us much to consider with this verse. We know it is not dumb luck. We know our own bruises are that peculiar shade of yellow-green, but we brush ourselves off and start all over again:) Sadness would be in never leaping again.
My word verification is "renewer".
Reminds of that Daffy Duck bit when he's playing Robin Hood. He launches off on a vine and immediately hits a tree.
He says, "Yikes! And away!" before continuing onwards and htting another tree.
His "Yikes! And away!" becomes increasingly faint with each tree hit until he passes out from the pain.
Anyways, a very good poem.
Taking chances in life is a bit like that. Lovely.
I love to watch squirrels leap from branch to branch and tree to tree. They never stop!
wish I had the gumption to be able to leap like that all the time, sadly when I try, I go splat too, and yet, the branches keep calling me. terrific post
Poor guy!
I am overun with squirrels this year. Is anyone else?
They are chasing my crows all the time.
You gotta take that leap...many times you will fall on your face but it will be worth it for the one time that you don't!
C x
Fabulous photo ...I wish squirrels lived in NZ!
How sad to try once and not try again.
So true. I especially liked your line about the color of bruises. Faith is a tricky thing built of knowledge and experience. I'll bet squirrels fall too when they are learning.
My lines on leaps of faith...
SHEAR FEAR
Sometimes
Trying new things brings
Shear fear.
Stepping from warm, boring comfort
Into dark on liquid legs.
Often faith is not a leap,
But a timid, stumbling step.
What a great photo Talon. I bet you were pleased at it when you had 'first glimpse.' He is sailing! I'm sorry the person in your story will not leap again, though. Sometimes we must leap (even blindly at times) in life to survive. At times we would rather have a more sure path; but when it isn't presented, what is one to do?
What an amazing picture! I so wish I had the courage to leap like the squirrel!
You have an amazing sense of timing Talon! Wow.
And as for leaps of faith, we have to take them sometimes, as difficult as they may be. A bruise or two just helps us appreciate the success when we make it, right.
Love the photo. Sometimes there is something to be said for not leaping again. ;)
With Zip around the squirrels really scurry, this morning he surprised 2 raccoons with his barking them out of the yard...
I have not seen a chipmunk for years and years...grey and red squirrels we have lots of - and no hawks this year to think the population.
Lovely story...are we all concerned about flying when we have fallen on our face?
Nice freeze-frame!!!
Nice musing.
LOVE having you back...:-)
Then he was conquered by his fear and everything he's been taught as a youth. That is sad.
It's hard to get across those chasms, but as it's a squirrel's nature to leap trusting his instinct and his skills, so it's ours to go back to the drawing board and build chasm-defying roads and bridges. Where there's a will there's a way. ;_) That is a remarkable photo of the leap, though,Talon.
Great capture on squirrel in "flight". They rarely miss, and are much safer in the trees. I see them running along the power lines, and I liken this to using the interstate and the trees are the exits.
Well written! When you do fall, you must get up and try again.
What a vivid brilliant picture of the chipmunk. We have chipmunks all over and under our house. They drive our Beagle nuts because the little devils are too fast to catch. When you have as many as we do they are a real nuisance and threat to gardens and plants, not to mention holes in the ground. A couple of years ago I started trapping them and hauling them off and releasing them at different places a good distance away. I released them at the branch post office and made them federal employees, I released them at our church making them little Presbyterians...I released them all over our section of town. 65 of the little rodent devils I hauled off to new homes. But to no avail, because the next year we had as many as before I started trapping them. So, after wasting a lot of gas and time, I consigned chipmunk relocation to my other list of lost causes. Ditto for that other little varmit,the squirrel. My best
Talon,
I am so pleased to now be subscribed:~) I loved the pictures and of course the verse:~) The picture of the squirrel leaping is wonderful.
We have some squirrels that do amazing leaps to reach one bird feeder. We keep moving it out with the hope that they'll give up, but no, they keep at it again and again and again. Occasionally, one will luck out and land on it...to my delight.
Great chipmunk header n Squirrel leap pics!
Love your poem! I always think of squirrels like that too- n when young thought I could whip thru trees also.
Last summer neighbors were out talking on the road out front, when a squirrel up high overhead crossing trees missed n fell- I saw him land right next to the talking women in the sandy road with a smack, quickly got up n ran off into the woods. That must've really hurt, felt so bad for him. Perhaps they are really made of rubber...
Hank, some are quicker at recovery than others, for sure :)
Hilary, it never fails to amaze me how they zip around and leap from the tiniest branches right to another forty or fifty feet above ground. Yes, we have to get up and go on or we'd just end up being tripped over, wouldn't we?
ayala, thank you. Yes, everyone reacts to setbacks differently, don't they?
Frieda, gald the countdown is on for your holiday. :) No apologies about slow blogging, it's always delightful to see you whenever you can make it!
Brian, like you, I love the squirrels, too. They are like having a constant circus act in the back yard. Drives Charlie to distraction, but who doesn't love a good chase and I swear the squirrels set her up for failure! :)
Annie, I love when the word verification actually means something and relates :) Yes, if we didn't get up that would be the really painful tragedy for sure. When I captured this mid-air squirrel shot, it got me thinking about risk-taking and the poem was born.
G, oh my! I remember that episode! Too funny! And talk about never giving up! Or is that a case of the old definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? lol!
Lynn, I think so too. :)
Shay, I wish I could harness their energy! :)
Christine, I'm with you - it's too difficult to resist the urge to take those leaps. I'm certain we will have at least a few safe landings! :)
Sandy, the squirrel population is about the same here this year. Mind you, between our dogs and the cats, they keep the squirrels hopping. Hey, tell those squirrels of yours I'm sending Stripey your way to stop them for bothering the crows (I love crows!) :)
Carol, exactly! I wanted to shake my imaginary poem person and remind him that the risk itself is the reward quite often!
Marilyn, sounds like some people have extras so maybe we should crate some up? :) Yes, it would be very sad if you lived your life without taking chances, wouldn't it?
Leenie, I loved your shear fear - especially the "into dark on liquid legs" - that's perfection! I've never seen a squirrel fall, but I've seen them stop and reconsider :) Smart little critters!
lg, I wasn't 100 percent sure I got it mid-flight. And, yes, I was thrilled :) So often, we do have to blaze our own trails and take chances. It can definitely be scary. But you are right - how else would we survive? If not, we would just be existing and it would be flat and meaningless.
Teresa, I was so happy I got one mid-flight - they move so fast. They never fail to amaze me with their acrobatics!
Katherine, I have to thank the squirrels - they seem to perform even more when I'm out with the camera (probably trying to evade photo capture!). So true - the bruises are badges of honour, I think :)
Joey, thanks. Yes, there are times when it's good to be cautious, for sure. Learning which time is which is the tricky bit, isn't it? :)
Patricia, I can just see Zip taking care of those "invaders" on his territory! :) We have some chipmunks, but Stripey keeps that population well trimmed!
G, it's good to be back! Thank you :)
Walking Man, it is a tragedy, isn't it?
hedgewitch, thanks. It was neat to catch him completely mid-air. I guess the camera deserves more thanks than I :) Yes, we try everything to level our playing fields, don't we?
Linda, we call our trees around here the 40l (a major highway), it's so full of traffic :) Thank you!
Henry, I should lend you Stripey for a week or so. He kills chipmunks like crazy. Because they mostly stay on the ground, they don't stand a chance. We have one hole in the back garden and quite often Stripey will park himself nearby and I feel like they are sitting ducks. The squirrels can generally get away, but he's caught them many a time, too. I know our old neighborhood was so sad when we moved because Stripey kept everyone's gardens varmit free. We nicknamed him The Terminator! I am laughing so hard at the "Presbyterian chipmunks" - lol! Yes, sadly, sometimes nature's abundance simply wins!
Sara, your pic of the squirrel was amazing! They are such innate acrobats, aren't they? And they have the strong appetite to keep them attempting insane acts of bird feeder raidings!
Snaggle, the chipmunks have a whole network of holes in our retaining wall and normally they dash inside when I come around, but this one decided to make like a statue. Aww - poor guy falling like that. I bet he was humilated. Like cats, I don't think squirrels like losing their balance. I'm giggling at the "rubber" idea!
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