Survival Instincts

 

My cat once injured a baby bunny.

It was out of pure instinct,

and

it made me very sad.

I understood,

though,

that the likelihood of their living 

in the same yard

successfully

would be small

and at the fault of

neither animal.

I don’t know,

in our lives,

who was the hunter 

and the prey.

I do know, too,

that it wasn't the dynamic.

Quite.

However.

I think of that day,

today.

My holding the small rabbit

as it went through its last moments

of life

while the contented cat 

walked in and out of my legs,

looking up at me.

The heaviness of knowing 

that I 

was doing what nature intended

and you

became injured in the process.

And you

were following your instincts

and I 

became hurt as well.

Both of us

caught 

in the circle.

Trapped

in our turning,

until we were

thrown apart from

one another

into our

separate locations.

Both of us

trying to recover

while staying alert

for our next steps.