Guest Farm

At a guest farm in Manitoba
I share a long table on a sun-porch
     with a motherless raccoon
         who’s having her afternoon nap—
     one of many animals imprinted
          upon our hostess.

Outside there’s
     a castrated buck with misshaped antlers
          mistakenly transformed into an idiot's pet
     a half-coyote dog who lives
          a tame lifestyle curled up on the porch
     an earless cat
          who lost them to frost-bite
     a scar-faced one
          a hero of the tom-cat wars
     a  tailless goose
          victimized by buckshot
     a pair of uncommon ducks
          whose story I will never learn
     twenty-two retired horses
     two burros
     and me--
         a paying guest who is helping to support
              a motherless raccoon,
              a castrated buck,
              a half-coyote dog,
              and my other new-found friends.

Raccoon youngster
by Jeter Skeet