LYNN WHITE - RABBIT

Lynn White lives in north Wales. Her work is influenced by issues of social justice and events, places and people she has known or imagined. She is especially interested in exploring the boundaries of dream, fantasy and reality. Her poem 'A Rose For Gaza' was shortlisted for the Theatre Cloud 'War Poetry for Today' competition 2014. This and many other poems, have been published in recent anthologies including - Stacey Savage’s ‘We Are Poetry, an Anthology of Love poems’; Community Arts Ink’s ‘Reclaiming Our Voices’; Vagabond Press’s, ‘The Border Crossed Us’; ‘Degenerates - Voices For Peace’, ‘Civilised Beasts’ and ‘Vagabonds: Anthology of the Mad Ones’ from Weasel Press; ‘Alice In Wonderland’ by Silver Birch Press, and many rather excellent  on line and print journals.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lynn-White-Poetry/1603675983213077?fref=ts
lynnwhitepoetry.blogspot.com

---

                           Rabbit
 
 
A rabbit ran out from the rocks
and looked up.
Bright eyes caught in the glare
of my headlights.
I swerved and braked.
Probably should have done one or the other.
Should have made a choice.
There's hindsight for you.
 
Did I hit it?
Don't know.
But was only a rabbit,
a little furry thing
with big ears.
Insignificant.
I drove on.
 
Poor little furry thing.
It might be lying there stunned.
The next car up would run over it.
Finish it off.
OK, not much traffic going up here
at two o'clock in the morning.
But something has to be next
and before too long.
Should I turn round and check…
No, it's only a rabbit,
drive on.
 
But perhaps it was a mother rabbit.
All the baby rabbits would be
waiting for her return,
whimpering, crying,
not knowing yet that they
were going to starve
to death.
And it was my fault,
my responsibly,
the death of all those baby rabbits.
 
Where's safe to turn?
I know!
The garage.
There it is.
Sheesh..
That did my tyres no good!
 
Here I go
back
to the scene.
Stop.
Get out the car.
Walk back
in the dark,
no torch,
of course,
searching.
There it is,
one dead rabbit,
ears sticking up.
Squashed.
 
Ah well, in the midst of life
and all that.
Back in the car.
Off up the hill.
Nice glass of red waiting
for when I get home.
Straight up the hill.
And then..
 
A rabbit ran out from the rocks.
A furry bundle with big ears
and a white tail.
I caught it's frightened eyes
in the glare of my headlights,
braked and swerved.
Another squashed rabbit.
 
Was probably the dad.