Observations and Insights on the Nature of Things
This monthly column features brief essays, poems, poetic micro essays and photography
by Eve West Bessier, Poet Laureate Emerita of Silver City and Grant County, New Mexico.
Look for a new post every first Friday.
A bit of levity for heavy times.
Roadrunner
There are Jurassic features in your long-legged, feathered shape.
Part lizard, part bird, you’re a creature evolved only partway.
You nearly killed our favorite spiny lizard, who only survived
by sacrificing his tail and then hiding deep within the drainpipe.
There you go, hunter extraordinaire, hopping from gnarled juniper branch
to branch, looking for another stealthy lizard you can snag by chance.
You’re the king of Looney Tunes, racing to elude Wile E. Coyote’s threats.
He always ends up with the anvil dropped on his own head instead.
Why do you dart across the highway in front of cars and speeding trucks,
when you could fly, escape the forty-ton traffic without relying on luck?
You like the drama, the exquisite tension of dashing between life and death.
You taunt fate and haunt us by missing your demise by a hair’s breadth.
That’s why we honor you with that crazy statue at the rest area, high above I-10.
There you stand, glinting in hot sun, viewing Las Cruces in your cool Zen.
Up on that hill, you’re made of car parts, old computer keyboards and other junk.
You honk your obnoxious “Beep! Beep!” across the desert, just to poke some fun.
You keep us amused and guessing, and that is to your credit!
You know you’re our state bird, and you don’t let us forget it!
Photo Credit: Stock
