John W. Sexton (Ireland)

Fox
 
With food I refuse to discriminate:
the river does for me, I need no cup;
the beetle shares its fate with the rabbit,
I separate death from life with one snap.
And more, even on the odd occasion
I have been known to risk the hedgehog’s spine.
I am the rancid fire that lights the earth.
I am copper that knows no verdigris.
I steal the newborn from the throes of birth,
I am the farmer’s springtime misery.
I root the earthworm from the dripping soil.
Against me nature’s force cannot prevail,
as I, drawn by hunger’s relentless pull,
tie the deception of night to my tail.
 
 
from the collection Petit Mal