November Snap

People rush home huddled against the cold
Scarf’s wrapped tight around necks twice-fold
Home to fires and wrapped in fleeces on sofa’s
In front of TV’s they watch their favourite hosts

Outside, Rabbits scurry down warm holes
As Foxes come out to hunt in autumn’s cold
Voles and Hares search in the dark
As a Vixen moves stealthily, on guard

An owl hoots from his tree above
Wide eyes take in all from his position he loves
In a barn not far away Bats flutter to and fro
As Rats scuttle in the hay, carrying food as they go

Horses neigh in their stables watching the Rats
Seeing the dance above of the fluttering Bats
Chickens cluck in their coops outside the barn
Something has come-a-hunting to do them harm

A dog senses something’s amiss on his patch
He’ll get whatever it is, his teeth will catch
He sniffs the air to find where it is
A Fox he knows is ever so near, soon to be his

All of a sudden, chaos reigns supreme
As a Fox and his Vixen hunt in a team
One distracts the dog, teasing him mad
The other, The Vixen, A chicken she grabs

Lights come on in the farmhouse tonight
Shouts and a shot ring out in anger at the sight
The Vixen runs off at high speed, jaws clamped
As the dead chicken swings back and forth, unhampered

A cry rings out as she stops to look back
Her Fox has been shot, caught in a trap
She stands momentarily in silent sadness
Then runs off, young mouths to feed, now one less

The November snap is cruel in the wild
But survive animals do across the miles
All huddled up in the cold dark nights
Surrounded by the dominating human might