Peace Thoughts

If the smallest creature can, so can We

A tiny thing,
is white and gray
with tail curled under
on which to lay,
hyperventilating breath
and heartbeat plain to see on chest.

Reminder of the things that show
how life is
for the littlest know.

"Finding a hiding place like this
takes some planning," I say to it,
seeing it curled at back of dove’s keep
next to the wire and mother sitting eggs there.

Dove looks but does not blink red eyes,
almost tame, but still her instinct is
only for her babies to survive.

Run, her instinct should feel,
because this creature’s teeth
are sharp and real.
Wire would not stop feral demand
for lunch of that under her breast of steel.

As I watch in wonder this scene play out,
the two who would be enemies out in the wild,
sit face to face as if on life reflecting
how the world could be with peace protecting.
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explanation

I had an aviary of doves in my back yard. Between the glass in the back and the wire of the cage, a tiny rat had made a nest of feathers