092819c

Started Small

Maizie ate two and killed another

before I noticed they weren't bats:

long tail, scales, membranous wings;

she caught and killed two more,

I found the shells of six eggs

inside the wall, broken siding,

one found its way outside.

Saw it now and then,

finch to cardinal to crow size,

then, for a while, nothing;

moved on, been eaten, shot?

Kinda missed it for a while,

till I found Maizie's skeleton picked clean,

carnivore scattered in the back yard.

Neighbor was over Sunday morning,

asking about her missing lab;

haven't seen it or the old lady since,

big shadows moving, not with the wind,

I'll be OK long's the critter

can't tear open the Fiesta

or come through the plate-glass window.