BEASTS
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