The bible’s first cautionary tale
illustrates the potential
consequences of conversing
with an animal. Even so,
at the local park, I caw
to crows who caw at me,
and near the campus pond,
I often stop to talk to turtles.
“Hello!” I greet them,
heedless of any human
near enough to overhear.
Mornings, from my porch,
I trill my tongue to call
the roadrunners for breakfast,
and they come—
as do scrub jays, sparrows,
juncos, and the curve-billed
thrasher from next door. None
has offered fruit or other food
or tempted me to partake
of what’s forbidden. Instead,
these interactions cast me out
of humdrum life—and invite me,
briefly, into paradise.
