Chance Encounter. How benign it sounds!

When the weather warms up, it seems everyone wants to get out and enjoy what nature has to offer. Well, maybe not absolutely everything nature has to offer. (I say this as a loved one of people who suffer seasonal allergies, and as the owner of a tick transport system, otherwise known as a dog.)  Still, while all are out trying to enjoy spring, it might be helpful to recognize that a chance encounter may pose a danger or two. Thus, the following poem.

Chance Encounter

I know someday I will begrudge

 your every meal, detest

your very existence. If ever

I try to get you drunk,

beware!

It won’t be some benign

gesture of friendliness,

anything but! Between

your kind and mine,

peace is illusion, all-out

war the plain reality.

Today, though, I meet

you unawares

on this blindingly beautiful day

when warmth and light

cheer friend and enemy alike. Besides,

you are so young,

your skin gleaming with sunshine and moisture.

Don’t trust me!

Someday I may try to kill you,

but today, on this glorious April day,  

I am complicit in your safe escape,

you,

first slug of spring.

     ~ Kate Lydon Varley