---
title: 'Squirrel'
project: 'Elegies for Alternate Selves'
...

He is so full in himself: \
how far down the branch to run, \
how long to jump, when to grab the air \
and catch in it and turn, and land on branch \
so gracefully it's like dying, alone \
and warm in a bed next to a summer window \
and the [birds singing][].  And on that branch there \
is the squirrel dancing among the branches \
and you think *What if he fell?* but he won't \
because he's a squirrel and that's what \
they do, [dance][] and never fall.  It was erased \
long ago from the squirrel, even \
the possibility of falling was erased \
from his being by the slow inexorable evolution \
of squirrels, that is why all squirrels \
are so full in themselves, full in who they are.

[birds singing]: 31-mountain.html
[dance]: 98-hez-movingsideways.html