by M.A. Schaffner

The rabbits chase each other down the sidewalk
from Utah on Seventeenth. He runs the other way
for reasons of his own although he wonders
why they run so late on a summer day.

Some mysteries must remain. He lumbers on,
hoping to compensate for some of the abuse
he puts his body through each idle evening
for no good reason other than he can.

Where do the rabbits live – what do they do
about foxes, feral cats, and all the cars
that ferry harried parents and commuters
from schools to games to jobs and back again?

The reasons must seem clear enough to them,
but not the runner circling back again.

M. A. Schaffner has work recently published or forthcoming in The Hollins Critic, Dagda, Pennsylvania Review, Gargoyle, and Boston Poetry. Other writings include the poetry collection The Good Opinion of Squirrels, and the novel War Boys. Schaffner spends most days in Arlington, Virginia or the 19th century.