Galapagos
Tortoise
Out the
back window I see, resting there next to the mulch bin, a giant Galapagos
Tortoise, not moving or eating anything, but simply resting, steady
and sure as the harvest moon, its two front legs stretching out straight,
head peeking at me from beneath its dark carapace.
But I know
it cannot be a Galapagos Tortoise because this is winter in New England
and snow is covering everything, the yard and trees and the mulch bin.
I rub by
eyes, look out again see it’s only the large rock at the end of the
path resting there sure and steady as Mars shining red in the winter
sky, and not a Galapagos Tortoise after all, watching me quietly from
out there alongside the mulch bin in the snow.
Copyright © 2005 Michael Estabrook