Laying Future

The rabbit laid her nest’s foundation

in the place the dog takes his morning roll,

twisting on his back and kicking up a canine prayer,

offering his vulnerable belly to his Alpha god.

The rabbit’s kits, if ever born, would prove

the dog’s snack, quickly gulped and gone.

The mother never knew the ground she sought

was tainted with the dog born with canine

teeth and lives their rule. He can’t help it,

nor can she in the desire to lay her future.

You live between the rabbit and the dog,

laying future’s foundation in another's yard,

instinct acting on the next minute’s breath,

next beat of the heart, next impulse to craft

a vulnerable prayer that your kits may live

unharmed in the roll of morning’s call.