Pescadero
The little goats like my mouth and fingers,
and one stands up against the wire fence, and taps of the fence board
a hoof made blacker by the dirt of the field,
pushes her mouth forward to my mouth,
so that I can see the smallish squared seeds of her teeth,
and the bristle-whiskers,
and then she kisses me, though I know it doesn't mean "kiss."
then leans her head way back, arcing her spine, goat yoga,
all pleasure and greeting and then good-natured indifference: she loves me,
she likes me a lot, she takes an interest in me, she doesn't know me at all
or need to, having thus acknowledged me. Though I am all happiness,
since I have been welcomed by the field's small envoy, and the splayed hoof,
fragrant with soil, has rested on the fence board behind my hand.
-Mark Doty
Today's front yard critter count:
Raccoons:: 6 (Old Tailless Guy's Little Woman, Crabby Mama and her 4 teenagers)
Deer: 3
