Artwork > BEASTS

chiaroscuro linocut, chipmunk art, chipmunk linocut
Chipmunk
Linocut
2016

A 2-color linocut
5" x 7" print
10" x 8" paper
Hand printed on BFK Rives paper
Edition: 4
Sold unframed
Price includes shipping within the U.S.

EASTERN CHIPMUNK

Tamias striatus

This morning, a chipmunk 
climbs our viburnum to reach 
its bright red berries.

What is this burrowing squirrel,
this ground forager, doing 
ascending a tree?

We eye her at eye level,
charmed by her nimble forepaws,
fat cheeks, sleek stripes,

until she intuits threat and scampers 
to safety in the warren she’s excavated
under our stone wall.

She has bigger hands than tree 
squirrels–grays, reds, flyers–
all the better to dig with. 

This one tunnels under 
the lacey hydrangea, leaving 
mounds of soft earth at its base.

Winter, she’ll nap, tucked into
her nest, waking every few days
to feast on tart berries.

Leslie Moore

Grackledom
Littoral Books, 2023