There are so many stories written about rabbits. Children’s books by the dozens and picture books for those fans of the form.
Somehow the poetry gets missed. I searched and read rabbit poems until I found this one by Polly Atkin, a British writer living in the northern Lake District of England www.pollyatkin.com. This will make any rabbit lover smile right down to their heart.
At the end, close your eyes and imagine all those delicate creatures out in the wild, surviving and thriving and providing such spirit to our lives.
rabbit in morning by Polly Atkin*
When I wake in the morning you are waiting for me, sat in the yard, still as a tree stump, only your eyes and nostrils moving,
and the wind in your fur, and the rushing shadow of leaves crashing over your curve, a green sea of waves on shingle, combing
your sandy flanks, your reddish back. After a pause, sure you are watched, you stretch out into a living leap
and plunge in the pool of long cool grass. This is the reason I won’t cut the lawn: to see you so, only ears above water
then arcing over like a dolphin saluting the sun, playing in the wake of the house as it sails me on, for sheer pleasure
of throwing yourself up. I want to invite you in, or to stay, or to not go away, but you are a wild thing. All I can do
is believe you will keep on being the warm vaulting life, ravelled round mine, although I may never hold you.
*Poem posted with permission of the author.