Squirrel
black squirrel meets highway 99
it dashes out from the shoulder
tale arched forward
and comes to a startled halt
in front of my 3/4 ton
black Ford F250
rumbling along,
15 clicks over the speed limit
the chassis thunders over the tiny body
dead center to the grill
tail tucked
back arched
so that its body’s a ball
I see it spin off to one side
in the rear-view mirror
then
an attempt at running
another car
a miss
and then another
now out of view
squirrel
lost in the blackness
of the asphalt