FOXFIRE

A flame among spring's flowers,
A russet flash through summer's haze,
A spark aglow in autumn fields,
On brilliant snow, a sudden blaze.

~ nowhiners, 2/5/00

FOUR LITTLE FOXES

Speak gently, Spring, and make no sudden sound;
For in my windy valley, yesterday I found
New-born foxes squirming on the ground ~
Speak gently.

Walk gently, March; forbear the bitter blow;
Her feet within a trap, her blood upon the snow,
The four little foxes saw their mother go ~
Walk softly.

Go lightly, Spring; oh, give them no alarm;
When I covered them with boughs to shelter them from harm,
The thin blue foxes
suckled at my arm ~
Go lightly.

Step softly, March, with your rampant hurricane;
Nuzzling one another, and whimpering with pain,
The new little foxes are shivering in the rain ~

Step softly.

~ Lew Sarett

THREE FOXES BY THE EDGE OF THE FIELD AT TWILIGHT

One ran,
her nose to the ground,
a rusty shadow
neither hunting nor playing.
One stood; sat; lay down; stood again.
One never moved,
except to turn her head a little as we walked.

Finally we drew too close,
and they vanished.
The woods took them back as if they had never been.
I wish I had thought to put my face to the grass.
We kept on walking,
speaking as strangers do when becoming friends.

There is more and more I tell no one,
strangers nor loves.
This slips into the heart
without hurry, as if it had never been.
And yet, among the trees, something has changed.
Something looks back from the trees,
and knows me for who I am.

~ Jane Hirshfield

Copyright © 1996 by The Atlantic Monthly Company. All rights reserved. The Atlantic Monthly; June 1996; Three Foxes by the Edge of the Field at Twilight; Volume 277, No. 6; page 98.

THE BLACK FOX

Well as we were out a hunting
One morning in the spring
Both hounds and horses were running well
Made the hills and the valleys ring

But to our great misfortune
No fox there could be found
Our huntsmen cursed and swore but still
No fox moved over the ground

And upspoke our master huntsman
At the head of the hounds rode he
"Well we have ridden for a good three hours
But no fox have we seen

"And there is strength in me
And I will have my chase
And if only the Devil himself came by
We'd run him such a race!"

And then up there sprung like lightening
A fox from out of his hole
And his fur was the color of a starless night
And his eyes like burning coals

And they chased him over the valley
And they chased him over the field
And they chased him down to the riverbank
But never would he yield

And he's jumped into the water
and he's swum to the other side
And he's laughed so hard that the greenwood shook
And then he's turned to the huntsmen and cried

"Ride on my gallant huntsmen when must I come again?
Oh never shall you want for a fox to chase all o'er the plain
And when your need is greatest, just call upon My Name
I will come and you shall have the best of sport and game!"

And the men looked up in wonder
And the hounds ran back to hide
For the fox had changed to the Devil himself
Where he stood on the other side

And the men, the hounds and horses
Went flying back to town
And hard on their heels came a small black fox
Laughing as he cried

"Ride on my gallant huntsmen when must I come again?
Oh never shall you want for a fox to chase all o'er the plain
And when your need is greatest, just call upon My Name
I will come and you shall have the best of sport and game!"

- Song recorded by Chris Foster

The song playing is "The Fox of Scotland"

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