the fox acknowledges with an imperceptible nod the arrival of dusk
dusk and the fox becoming one entering the world of humans
the fox is busy being a fox stops: paw raised
the fox goes in and out of time
appearing now disappearing as if it had stepped out of the world
the dusk no longer exists night falls with my footfall
as if on cue synchronised to time and light
the fox stares at me beyond me...I am a walking shadow
the yellow street light stains us for a moment we vanish from each other
tomorrow sees dusk and fox keep the same appointment
only I am absent . . .
Riffing on the Hughes. THE THOUGHT FOX.... when my brother introduced me to his very own private fox who would without fail come to the window and gaze in at him. We would sit with the lights out and await his presence. When my brother died I'm sure the fox continued to come and gaze at the now silent window. Fox as psychopomp. When the fox came it would gaze at us for about five minutes and we would sit still in the darkened room and gaze back and try to commune.
My brother always loved Raymond Carver's Late Fragment...
"And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so? I did. And what did you want? To call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved on the earth."
He said this was what the fox was saying....the ultimate question you have to answer when death comes calling.