Shortlist Saturdays: Full Moon at the Soccer Field by Meg Freer

Full Moon at the Soccer Field                                

In daylight songbirds flit in and out of bushes

along our usual trail near the field and crows in threes

sit in a particular dead tree beside the marsh

a side path descends to a hidden spot with terraced rocks

and shade trees where we sit and listen

to the creek that flows out of the marsh

the air turns cool and damp as we enter the woods

where trilliums and trout lilies quaver in spring

and rabbits and red squirrels forage in fall

at the end of the woods before the road

the creek abruptly appears again (I washed my dog there

once after she rolled in some dead thing nearby)

the water rills over rocks turned stepping stones

that allow us to cross and climb through pines

to a granite ridge overlooking a bigger marsh

but this evening a woman with one tiny dog

and a big stick has persuaded me to avoid

this marvelous trail despite the bright Hunter’s Moon

having just related how her other pup was snatched

by a pair of coyotes right here a few nights ago at 1:00 a.m.

as she dropped her garbage into the nearby can

how she called 911 because she couldn’t think of who else

to call (but the operator redirected her to a suicide hotline)

and how she sent a drone out to search in vain for the dog

then sent a hunter with a tracking German Shepherd

who found remains that may or may not have been her pup

so she keeps coming back to this very place in case he returns

but before her story becomes even more involved

I extend my sympathy for her pup and decline with thanks

her offer of the second big stick she keeps in her car

while my mind fills with questions about the woman

and her nighttime walks and about coyotes

and their proximity to residential areas

then I turn away to walk my dog under floodlights

at the soccer field’s edges where a different array of scents

will tire her out while we wait for the team practice to finish

and I hear the woman call after us, “Stay safe!”