cambuff Poetry (74)

I went to my kitchen,
Around three, for a late lunch
A few days later, after his
Stroll across my feet.
Not thinking about him, at all.

Pulling out my silver ware drawer
I see this worm like thing across
My Forks. At first I thought it was a snake.
I slid my drawer out as far as it
Would go; bent over and peered inside,
Keeping my distance.

Resting on the back of the drawer,
Between the under side of my counter
And the drawer was Opie staring back at me.

I pulled the drawer out completely,
He jumps to the next, I pull that one
out, he jumps again, until I have
All five drawers laying on my
Kitchen table.
The cabinate doors were closed.
I open the furthest one from the sink.
He leads the chase in the same order
But in reverse, until he has no
Place to flee. under the cabinets.


The phone rings, I turn my back
For but a moment, and he's gone
That was the last I saw him in
The house. I left the trap set
Up in the kitchen for about two
Weeks before I set in out on
My deck, where it stills sits today.

My lady friend and I were talking
Under my carport, when we looked up,
and on the top shelf of this rack
We saw this little guy, that
I have for my profile picture.
I'm not sure if it was Opie, But
The way he sat there in defiance,
Staring at us, long enough for
Me to retrieve my camera, I feel
It must have been him, taunting me!

The reason he has over taken my profile
Picture is a simple case of Identity Theft.
He left me gifts that I could have
Done without, he had me tear up equivalent
Of three rooms, and a made it so I had
To wash countless dishes.
So I figured he owed me, and since he is cuter
Than I, he is my publicity photo.

For three nights I baited, painted,
And smeared this vile odorous concoction.
The second night there was no change.
The third night I gave up.

Time for a game plan change.
Off I go, with my ex-lady friend
To buy a Hav-A-Heart Trap.
I'm royally ticked at this point.
Unemployed, limited income, and I
Have to buy a trap that I'll only
Use once.
The pellet gun sounds REAL good now!

Setting the trap, I have it set so
That the slightest touch triggers it.
The trap, for those that aren't familiar with it;
Is a cage, this one about two feet long,
One end, the entrance, is spring loaded.
A teater taughter type lever, when stepped on
Releases the spring loaded door,
Trapping the offending possum.
Or so it was designed...

I set the trap up in his room,
That now has it's own mail box number.
The trigger is set so light, A mere touch
Sets the spring in motion.
He's going down! And OUT!

Next morning, no apple no Opie.
I do it again the following night.
This time there's apple, but still
No Opie.
That was the last I saw of him for
About a week, I tore the room up twice
Looking for him after that night.
It was on the fourth night
I decided that he was gone.

My thoughts returned to watching movies.
I'm sitting at the computer, when all of a sudden,
This thing WALKS across my feet!

I screamed! And it wasn't nice what I yelled.
Opie was frightened as much as I,
Dashes to a nuturual corner. My heart is
Racing so badly that I didn't think of
Trapping him in the room.
He somehow escaped undetected by me.
I pulled everything out of the
Computer room closet, to check if
I missed a hole. No such luck.
There was no way he could have
Gotten out of the storage room.

I set the trap up one more time,
In the spare room. The apple and
Trap kept themselves company
For a week, before I
Decided that he was no longer
A free loading tenant.

I stopped thinking about him after
About a week. He was gone, adios,
Farewell, Good bye!
Or so I thought....

Off I go to Walmart, returning with
Bait and a sixty nine cent paint brush.
The sponge type that's worthless
When trying to paint your house.

Removing the contents of the bag, I feel
As if the ingredients for the concoction,
Will do the trick. C said strong odor.
I'll give him strong odor!
Thrown in the blender are, what I'm
Hoping, things that will delight
The palette of my wayward friend.

Soft cat food, tuna, sardines, and
Generous serving of garlic powder.
Topped off, and please don't ask
Me why, peanut butter.
Thrown in the blender with enough
Water to make a slimy semi-paste.

Paint brush in one hand,
Slime in the other, I start stroking
My planks as if I were working a canvas.
This I did not attempt in doors.
Propping the planks on the
Cat litter box, I put a small mound
Of the hand made crap on the end
Of the plank. In the cat litter box,
Two bowls in the botton of it,
One water and the other the
Concoction of the possum gods,
That I did not make paste.

Leaving the room, which is
Now decorated possum poo, I feel
Victory will be mine!
The following morning, with
Expections high, words cannot
Tell how ticked I was when
I saw the small mound
That sat on top of the planks,
And no Opie in the litter box!

The nest morning, the same signs,
With a trail of poo on the mattress,
Which is horizontal, on it's edge.
But still no Opie.

Deciding that there's nothing I can
Do for the moment, I leave him
A bowl of cat food and water.
I've got a friend who'll give
Advice on how to safely remove him.

That evening I talk to C.
His first suggestion was to shoot it.
This , at that point did sound tempting;
Half jokingly, I told him I didn't
Want to have a mess to clean up.
He tells me possums are stupid animals.
All I have to is find a bucket, build a
Ramp and bait it with something that
Has a strong odor.
Possum climbs ramp, possum smells
Food in bucket, possum goes for food
Possum falls in bucket, possum
To stupid to move.
Sounded good to me.

In my possession I had a heavy
Duty empty kitty litter box,
One plank, long enough To make
A perfect ramp, all I need is the bait.

Question four; What does a possum eat?
Figuring it was rat like, almost anything.
To the kitchen I go , and as if looking
For something to eat for myself, I stare
In the refrige as if it had some hidden
Treasure ready to be found.
I grab an apple.

The next line you read, I did it, but
As I type, I can't believe I did it!
Taking the apple to the sink and
Rinsing it off, I CORE IT! For a possum!
Putting it in a bowl, along with a
Bowl of water, I lay it in the center
Of the room, keeping a watchful
Eye out for my future neminineus.
I close the door and convince myself,
Not to worry about it until the morning.


The next morning I get up and
Call S, the twin that lived locally,
At the time; I tell her about the possum.
She asks me if I named it. Of course not!
I don't want to get chummy with it.
She tells me to name after some Greek
Philosopher that I can't pronounce,
Let alone spell.
So out of my mind, to appease her
I dub him Opie.
She hated it!

I return to the possum's lair,
To find it's not in the room or
Not to be seen , at least.
The apple's gone, water bowl
Tipped over, but no Opie.
If you ever seen The Green mile,
Or read it, there's a scene that
The guards tare a room a part to
Find a mouse.
That's what I did to find Opie.
Nothing! I then pull everything out
Of the closet; Stuff I forgotten
I put in there, when I moved
Over a year ago.

I look at the wall that separates
The two closet's; solid,
No escape burrows. I'm confused.
There's no way this thing could
Get out!
I get another apple, CORE that one,
And grab a bowl that was designed
For a Great Dane, and set them on
The floor and close the door.

Hastily I shut the door and
Wondered, now what do I do?
Possums can be vicious, young or old,
As with any animal wild.
I ignored my first instinct, and that was
Grabbing my pellet gun, and
Becoming the great white hunter.
Sure, he was uninvited, but
What harm has he caused?

Blocking off his escape route,
Between the floor and the door,
Question two arose; How did he get in?
Opening the door and carefully stepping
Over my mini wall, I look for some kind
Of entrance way.

Having no lamp or flashlight to aide
Me in my search, with great caution,
Enter the room, with the door open
Just far enough to let light trickle in.

This now the time to fill in
One detail I forgot to inform
You of; My humble
Abode is a double wide mobile home,
Which means it's raised about three
Feet off of the ground.

In the left hand corner of the room,
Some one had previously had cut
A three foot access way to get to the
Shower plumbing.
And of course, open to the Great Outdoors.

As I slide a mattress over to the cut out
To hold the downed panel in place, from
The corner of my eye I see the furry baby
Run in between the closet door and
A mish mash of stuff.

I'm thinking if I leave the panel
Open, he might get out by himself,
But what if he trapped himself in
The floor boards? And died?
So I left the panel in place.
Seeing his tail under the stuff,
I head back out of the room,
Making sure my mini wall insecure.

Then question three hit me; A
Hungry possum trapped in a room,
Cannot be a good thing, can it?

In early morning Of November past,
An urge of hunger disturbed
My movie watching.
Pulling myself from computer,
I headed for my kitchen, for
Peanut butter on cheap white bread.

Beneath my bathroom door there seeped
A light, in negligence, I forgot to
Turn off.
Not opening the door all the way,
I stuck my arm to extinguish the light.

I felt something, no, more likely sensed,
A small furry creature scurry slide past my foot.
I thought I saw a gray tail slither
Under the door of the spare bedroom.
In this room, at the time,
Were childhood toys of my
Twin daugthers. Stuffed animals
Being the bulk of unwanted things
I could not part with.

I opened the door to find the intruder,
Seeing nothing, I came to the the
Conclusion my imagination bested me.
I closed the door and scratched my head,
Could I have more tired than I thought?

Opening the door again, I gave another look.
Again seeing nothing out of the norm,
I closed it once more.
Then it struck me;
Rabbits bears, even a squirell or two,
I acquired for my now grown daughters,
But NEVER a possum!
Sitting on a bookcase , three shelves up,
Just staring at me, not even a twitch,
To indicate it was real, set a baby possum.

The story that's about to unfold,
Is that of nonfiction. All truth;
I need not to embellish at all.
In stages it shall be written,
If patience is shown,
I shall deliver the story of
Of my unwanted marsupial.

There are details that must
Be known, before I continue
My tale of the furry intruder.
Between each door, of the
Rooms of my house, there is
A gap, between the floor and
The doors, roughly three fingers high.

The other fact that must be relayed;
There is a wall that partisans
A spare bedroom and my computer
Headquartes, with back to back
Closets, divided by a wall.

With these in mind, I now shall
Unweave on how I became the host
Of the Possum Motel.

Why shed tears,
My love?
Why are you crying?
Shedding tears for
Something a man not
Understands.
I pain to bare witness,
On misery unexplained;
Misery nature curses
Each woman with.

The gift of life
Should be a joyous affair;
Joined not with misery and pain.
Men should walk in pride
For what you endure;
Not just for the pain
Of the actual birth;
But to things that go bump,
And dismantles your flow
That destroys your enjoyment
Of things going right;
Causing tears that men
Not understand.

Why shed tears,
I ask you my love?
Please let me know,
I want to know more,
To understand,
What's it like to
Carry a burden just
To walk this path called life.

I askith thee to follow a path;
It matters not if thou art male
Or female.
For this path is shared
For things not involving flesh;
I askith for thine friendship,
And thy company,to behold beauty,
Beyond human Life.

This path has been traveled
By many a pilgrim before us,
Each seeking the same destiny.
A destiny that leaves unpaid bills,
Estranged affairs, or any other
Problems that molest us from
Walking this this path.

Tis a narrow path, but through
It's course you eyes
Will lay witness to visions
That will delight the heart;
Visions that will bring peace
To a troubled mine.

Imagine a path where butterflies
Dance before you, with colors that
Hunans could only dream to duplicate?
A rabbit With it's dull brown coat
Sticking his head out
Of a hole; seeing all is safe,
Scurries about without a troubled
Heart; or a fawn with it's
Spring fashion of brown with
White spots designating how
Young it is? or a mother bear,
Watching and playing with her cubs;
A squirl leaping from tree limp,
Not caring about anything but
It's own playful journey?

These visions and others open
Themselves to thyself if thoust
Were willing to walk that path.
I knowst I am willing, the only
Wish I have, Will thoust join me,
As my friend?

I found a magic wand,
I do not know what
Powers it yeilds.
Shall I try to wisk
The troubles of the
World and banish them
So they shall never
Plex the world again?
Hunger,war, hatred, famine.
And all of humanities strife;
Wiped from our memories;
As a teacher cleans a
Blackboard with a swipe
Of a damp cloth?

I have found a magic wand that
Lies before me; Teasing
Me ,taughting me,
Tempting with the powers
It provides.
What do I do?
Be selfish, and
Have it grant me all wishes
I have ever desired?
Material things THAT I
Think would complete my life?
Or change the people
That causes discomfort
To my friends and myself?

Suddenly, as quickly
as a panther's srike,
My mind is cleared.
Do I have the right
To change someone
For my personnel gain?
To alter someone
I think is wrong?

I found a magic wand.
I know not what powers it yielded.
It releases a heavenly scent,
As the fire consumes it.

She still believes in
Living happily ever after.
She believes that
Knights in shining armour
Will kidnap her from
Demons and dragons that
Disturb and distrupt the
World around her.

A prayer is said that
Asks "Why has this happened?
She is much to young
To have caused grief to others;
She is much to young
To pained others as only
Teenagers and adults may cause.
So Dear Lord, we pray;
Why has harm come to her?

Please Lord, We come to
You in Prayer, and petition
You to look after this
Innocent that lies so
Hopelessly before you.

Wrong she has not created;
Nor has had time to
Expierence or feel
The pain that hate's
Sting is capable of.

Lord, we plead,
Take this child,
Under your protection;
And allow life to continue
It's flow, and allow not
Hardships of life
To embitter her and
Destroy the innocence and
Love, that would
Grant her peace to
Ensure that she will
Live Happily Ever After!
Amen