Biological Imperative

Stricken at the thought of foraging 
difficulties for overwintering birds
in our harsh winter landscape, loving
the presence of cardinals, redpolls, juncos
and chickadees, we thought to provide 
them with a food source during this 
cruelly frigid winter with its endless 
ice and snowstorms ... and that is how 
the feeding station on our porch was born. 
Deriving pleasure from their daily visits, 
we watch enthralled as they take their 
turns, in pairs and singly, flocking to 
share nuts and seeds and not only they 
but black, grey and red squirrels that 
others scorn, in their turn entertaining 
us with constant mini-dramas on our 
very doorstep. They bring us joy in 
exchange for quotidian meals. The 
dearest of these visits, however, are 
the lonely night-time appearances of a 
small grey hare, silently hunched against 
the cold, appetite sated, seated on our 
porch floor. Yet it is the image of that 
very small, defenceless beast, alone in its
creature-solitude in an otherwise
gregarious world that fills us with
wonder and sadness. The wonder that,
alone, it makes its way in its lonely
world; the sadness, that it does so
unaccompanied by a companion.