Road Kill

A lump of gray fur mashed
flat on the asphalt.
Something--once living--
didn't make it to the other side.

How will life end?
Like a squirrel
who crossed too soon
or waited too long
to seek fallen acorns?

Or like a baby raccoon
separated from the den
his tiny squeals crushed
under a two-ton pickup?


Or like a possum hissing
on the double yellow line
eyes locked with his doom?