"First They Must Catch Us "
Dana and Scotty hunch low with me,
nervous rabbits trying to hear the future
between yards, sensing danger.
Mrs. Tinsdale's words thunder
over us like metal earth-movers --
visions of dark-furred hares loom close.
Frith echoes in my perked-up ears
"All the world will be your enemy,
Prince with a Thousand Enemies."
"Care of the state" sounds between yards.
Mom is scolded like a child --
Sandleford Warren is doomed.
We pool our candy and allowances
and twitch our nervous whiskers
while little Ella whimpers.
She comes to me in the dark,
clinging, complaining with nightmares
of farmers and snares, barren earth.
I push her away, for her own good,
for the strength she'll need,
for the dream of our Watership Down.
Guilt washes over like cold blood
from a skinned hare as I realize
she sleeps alone with the sound of bulldozers.
© 2006 Jeffrey S. Lange
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