Bug action in the mulch
must have brought the critters
to the yard last night
as it’s all messed up with holes
and mounds where noses got pushed
into the damp black bark covering 
everything. 

Below the feeders where the seeds
and bird crap fall and are either
retrieved by birds or left to sprout
seems to be the target spot 
for those who come to forage on 
the beetles and the worms under there.

I write too much about the feeders
and the birds as if I never get out
past the windows into the rest
of the neighborhood. I know.
I’d tell you I’m safer here or at least 
feel the way but in truth 

why go out when
scuttling scavengers and 
skunks and the like
make this yard of damp black mulch
cleaner and more complete 
than the human world?

I read the news. I know how it works
out there. I could spit out the window here
and not hit anything that isn’t
doing its job and contributing.
I’m sure there are
places like this elsewhere
but I’m afraid, terribly so,
of being crushed
at how hard it will be
to find one.