Delighting Us No End

A glum and gloomy sight it was
for us, a week ago, to see the
bloodied remains of what was
once an intrepid and daring,
talented and impudent acrobat of
the woods. Its small, black-furred
presence a reminder of the
transience of life. When the hawks
return to the spring forest
the small, furred creatures
exercise life-preserving caution.
This one failed. We hoped it was
not our favoured, stump-tail who
for years has brazenly accosted us
for peanuts to fearlessly eat them
as we waited to offer more. We had
seen the hawks wheeling high
above the winter-bare canopy,
shrilling their calls. But this morning,
there was Stumpy, as blithely entitled
as is his due, awaiting our offerings
of three-chambered treats,
delighting us no end.