Rodent Dangerfield

Rodent Dangerfield was

The Smartest Squirrel In The World

whose receding hareline gave him

the appearance of a Rodent Duval,

and his nut was the size of a tangerine—

the cognitive superiority it bestowed upon him

allowed him to work out the timing

required to cross a street in traffic,

the exact speed required to go safely

between the wheels of a passing car

thereby giving him a substantial edge

over the rest of his species,

and even a leg up against predators,

several carcasses of which

littered the roadsides.

Alas, even the smartest squirrel in the world

was reduced to roadkill by Mrs. Ralston

an eighty-nine year old widow

making a buttermilk run on RD’s street,

for Mrs. R is that lady in front of you

who taps on her brakes at any provocation

or motion caught her peripheral vision.