Abecedarian: To the Possum Who Visited Me One Night

About 11 pm you squeezed through a
Break in the screen, lured by the irresistible scent of
Cat food. I heard the bowl rattling—
Did it ever startle me!—
Ejected the cat from my lap in time to
Find your pink tail
Going flip-flap down the dark
Hall toward the guest room.
I did not shriek, being rather
Jaded by all my Florida years. Instead, I pulled the
Knob shut and,
Like Scarlett O’Hara, said to
Myself I’d deal with you tomorrow, and
Nodded off toward bed. The cat, uninterested, went back to sleep.
On second thought, in case you were
Prone to wandering, I made
Quite sure you’d
Remain there (trying not to think about the paintings
Stacked in that room) by stuffing towels under the door. It
Took a day and a half and cat food bait, but I
Ultimately got you in the Have-a-Heart trap. You were so
Very fierce, youngster, showing me all your tiny teeth!
When I let you out in the backyard, you made a beeline through the
Xeriscape toward your burrow,
You with such a tale to tell your brothers, my accidental
Zoological houseguest.