Dead Chipmunk - STEPHANIE SELLARS

I spoke to it, belly-up
the dead chipmunk
my cat friend left for me 
on the deck

Thank you, chipmunk
I know this is not what 
you chose, but I am
grateful anyhow

her curled paw like an old woman’s hand.

I did not know chipmunk paws
have separate appendages
like long fingers.

I stroked the paw
and belly 
soft as milkweed fluff--
another dead thing in the meadow, 
though the milkweed will come back in spring

I let her slide out of the Tupperware coffin 
into a milkweed patch 
where she landed on her back,
her belly the sky never saw in life

I covered her with dead leaves,
hoping another animal will
make a meal of her,
her bones nourishing
the earth 
one gift not enough

The cat meowed and paced before I saw
her prize--
as if to say, look
we are both alive.