Finding God In Our Moments

I saw the girl-fox again today
She went dancing overhead
While I was sitting in traffic.
She on a railroad trestle
Me on the road
She in the wild that is so closely knit
With the roads and parking-lots and shops of suburbia.

Knowing foxes, I know her schedule.
I know that when I was rolling over for another 30 'Z's, another 20 winks,
She had already been up for an hour and a half.

I used to keep a schedule like hers, you see,
And daily meet one of her cousins a couple hours before sunrise.
At another railroad crossing,
Many miles from here.

Funnily enough, my train will take me in the direction she was headed,
As she set off for perhaps her third time already this morning.

But I still had to wait for my train;
The rails heating up and expanding in the warm sun,
The wooden ties creaking and clicking in response,
While song-birds fill the air with their music,
And the breeze shifts the grasses.

Today the train is late.
And that's just fine.

Keep Dancing in Your Heart

The other afternoon I saw the girl-fox;
Dancing along on her toes;
Both forward and shy at the same time.
Young, yet careworn.
A morsel of food in her mouth.

Guessing where her path might take her,
I moved to where I could see her again,
and she boldly came within twenty feet of me, and stopped,
wary, yet bold, watching me.

I hadn't intended to interfere with her, so I spoke gently to her, and stepped to one side.
She trotted back to where a curve would take her out of sight, and stopped, looking at me,
almost daring me to follow,
and then she went around the curve, not fast, not slow,
dancing on her toes.

I wasn't going to follow, either.
I was mindful of why a girl-fox might carry food,
Instead of eating it.
But then a yapping, fox-singing noise broke out;
The sound of young foxes greeting their mother.
So I walked to where the edge of the tall grass curved, and looked down the dirt road.

At first I saw nothing,
But then the girl-fox danced out,
Eyed me proudly, and sat.
And in a moment, two beautiful young foxes came to join her,
Playing around her,
Bouncing and pouncing.

They looked well fed and cared for,
And I understood the pride in the girl-fox's eyes.
She was care-worn from tending to her joy,
for spending her love on her children.

I asked God's blessing on her little family and headed off to my own little family,
Feeling just a bit less care-worn myself,
And somewhere inside,
dancing on my toes.

- - - - - - - - - -

And maybe this is a sign for me:
My work is very demanding
And not what I would choose
But it is what I am forced to do
What I must do for now
To care for my family
And perhaps I need to approach
My work with more joy
Because doing this work
Is caring for my family

Peace,
LE