Swerving to Miss Caterpillars

Photo: (c) Jamie K. Reaser

In the Autumn,

when thirteen-segments,

fat and bristled,

dare the frenetic roads to find

tall, dry grasses in which to sleep

themselves into something

utterly different,

caterpillars can be your prayer.

What kind of person do you

choose to be?

Every moment of every day

you have this question put before

you by everything around you.

Everything.

And, everyone.

In that instant in which you wake up,

how will

you emerge?

Driving down Route 33,

at this very moment,

I make my choice:

I choose to be the kind of person

who swerves to miss caterpillars.

~ Jamie K. Reaser, Author
Published in "Wild Life: New and Selected Poems" 

Feel free to share