Raccoons

They’re out there again tonight
Edna and her kits:
Skippy, Stan and Diz
They walk on tiptoe
unbothered by the floodlights
Their backs are slightly arched
like awkward chubby cats
wearing Halloween masks

The backyard is their hunting ground
The garbage is their prey
If the dog has left his bone outside
they’ll take that too
They spread out like
commandos on the grass
and on the deck

Skippy, Stan and Diz reconnoiter
at a plastic garbage bin

Edna walks up to the glass door on the porch
and looks inside
When she catches sight of someone
she stands upright
with her hands against the glass

She gazes calmly at the man
Her dark brown liquid eyes
cutting cleanly through the black fur of her mask

She frankly knows he’s not a threat
In fact she is amused
to see a person trapped inside
behind the glass

She backs up from the door and turns away
to investigate a bowl
that’s been left out on the porch
for a feral cat

She manipulates some kibble in
her small five-fingered hands
before deciding that it’s
good enough to eat

With practiced skillful effort
the kits lift the garbage lid and
Skippy drops inside to check it out

There are scratching sounds
a rustling noise
A chicken carcass sails over the rim
followed in a moment by
some carrot stubs and lettuce leaves
potato skins and orange rinds
the scooped-out hollow shell
of an elbow squash

Stan and Diz waste no time
pouncing on the plunder
The chicken carcass seems to be
the prize

After a little tug o’ war
Stan emerges as the winner and
drags the chicken carcass to one side
Diz consoles himself by nibbling
on the squash

Edna finishes the cat food
and joins the boys down by the bin
choosing carrot stubs and lettuce leaves
an apple core, an orange rind
the heel of a baguette

There’s more rustling in the bin
A Chinese take-out carton
sails across the yard

Edna quickly checks it out
but finds it empty
Skippy always keeps the good stuff
for himself

E J Barron