Fox

about a fox

ready to bite

a doormat with

a wide grin of silver teeth

and a back with a thousand turns

and jumps;a face full of hair and eyes

like a hanging Jesus

reading the forest`s floor,

like the tiny handwriting in a girl`s

secret diary,a scrivener,tired

as a folded-leather bat then

snappy with a trapper`s sleight,

tearing like bread

under a rain of feathers

the inside of a hen;

he prays and eats to love...

then after the kill,

a leash under green shadows

in the half glass of dawn

the black fence of pine;

the shocked hole of silence.

Reviews

[Onku Ghosh]

A powerful write about a fox, seemingly but could be referring to a human being......who has the same characteristics....hecan be as sly and as cunning. After having his fill he too retreats inside his hole, his haven.
wonderful write.Enjoyed reading it immensely

[jacob erin-cilberto]

in and out stealthily, gets his prey...prays thanks for the meal..

"and jumps, a face full of hair/ like a hanging jesus"

i wish i had written that.

this is such a great description of the fox...but at the same time, much like a human who has similar traits...

we all survive somehow.

love this write...i think the fox is the most beautiful animal that exists.

jacob

[Zahra]

Really intriguing and masterfully crafted, very nicely done.

[David Scott]

Now Leslie, is this a fair depiction of our dear fox? Ha.
I love poems that play on nature and do indeed have obvious face value blended with deep seething guts to sink loving teeth into...
Your choice of word play in the line, "eat to love", was perfect! Very strong and still subtlebenough as not to cause a casual reader to spit it out...
Interesting and enjoyable.

[Souladareatease]

Ahhhh Beautiful Dark...though all is caught here...the light too
Beautiful craft Leslie!!!

[quinfinn]

the wording in this is superbly executed and cleverly thought out. your poems always give me pause for thought.

[emmajoy]

Stopped me in my tracks, this. Superbly, awfully graphic.. how it is but far more beautiful because of your phrasing. Saw a fox four evenings ago, hot it was; his coat glistens.. look so wonderful but, country folk know different.

' a back with a thousand turns ~ and jumps;a face full of hair and eyes ~ like a hanging Jesus.. ' The style and content here really is a tour de force.

[Tina Kline]

Very descriptive and creative poem.
I sure enjoyed reading this!

[Ufi Auttorri ~ Amy C. T..]

Honestly, I didn't look at the title or subtitle before I started reading and I thought the piece was about a doormat. I got to the second stanza and then I began wondering what sort of door mat would have a

and a back with a thousand turns
and jumps;a face full of hair and eyes
like a hanging Jesus

Needless to say the next two stanzas tipped me off balance and then threw an uppercut to the jaw. Once I regained my balance it was plain that I was outmatched. I surrendered to the nature of that prismatic lensing of cinematic perfection - that "...tearing of bread under a rain of feathers."

Then, I am squarely at odds with the humanistic dogma that follows: "...he prays and eats to love..." A rabbit punch to the kidneys. (Sorry, you have a fox, I a rabbit.) I slip into unconsciousness with the final blow, like the fox, I too retreat into that "...shocked hole of silence."

This is a different kind of poetry. I'm going to call it post-modern industrial; with your permission of course. Unless you prefer something else?

[Leslie Philibert]

A great review, interesting and full of insight,one of the best I have ever become.
Of course you may call it post-modern industrial,although I am not sure what that is.
I have been reading a lot of Ted Hughes, so maybe I have been influenced by his style, not of course having a shade of his quality and talent.Thanks for your time in looking at this ! Leslie.

[Ufi Auttorri ~ Amy C. T. Serrat]

This reference may give you a feel for the first part of my (probably unoriginal) mashup term: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodern_art ... combine this with a mix of organic and inorganic wording that juxtapose or replace elements of each at critical junctures within a piece and you have a sense, perhaps vaguely, of what I am calling Post-modern Industrial Poetry. Did that help? :)

This has a perfect poetic, touch, mixed with Grimm for me, wonderfully done, my friend, all is in there what is needed.

- Elisa