The Trap
A tree, a stone, a step, a mark, a trace.
A track, a time, a chance, a place.
A bird, a mouse, a fox, a startled hare.
A rabbit in a snare.
We hear it scream,
Feel it thump,
See the leaves shake a faint, slow trickle of blood.
A primrose nods. A bird sits on a branch.
A spider slings a thread from bud to bud.
Now there is a snuffling, a whimpering,
And Siân moves.
She knows the trip, the cinch, the lock, the snap,
Perhaps who set the trap.
She knows
The step
The stone
The track
The tree
And how to flip a wire back to set the rabbit free.
The Trap
© Mary Green
First published in The Caterpillar magazine for children Issue 23 Winter 2018