Fox Fidelis

for Hazel

So, she said,
what do you want?
Somewhere warm
to sleep inside,
said the fox in the snow.
There’s only the bike shed,
she said, and only at night.
Right,
said the fox in the snow
If you let me in,
and you let me out,
I’ll be a good fox.
You’d better be, she said,
No squatters here,
even at Christmas.
Verstehen Sie?
Etiam,
said the fox in the snow,
Semper ergo sum
vulpes fidelis.


Fox in a blizzard*

For Joe*

Looks serious
this blizzard of snowflakes.
A proper ice storm perhaps?
All the same yet different
the microscope shows.
Who knows?
Just hearsay it’s said,
and cold on the nose,
said the fox in a blizzard.