The Best Damn Poem About a Squirrel You'll Ever Read

Nuts! 🐿️

Driving home
a sudden thud.
Oh no!  
Something brown
in your rear-view mirror.

Your heart sinks,
foot on the break.
A squirrel, you think.
Nothing moves.
So death was swift.
But tears well in your eyes
at how unfair,
at how small,
how innocent,
now gone.

No one is coming,
You step out of the car.
Timidly, you say, "I'm sorry--" 
but wait!

A stick!

You leap hooray
for that little bro 
now far away
living his squirrel life,
the wind in his fur
a squint of serenity
behind his sunglasses,
turning up his podcast
on the open road.

Yes, he's reached the coast
by now,
packed his little squirrel 
swimming trunks
in his suitcase
(which rattles with nuts, 
no pun intended.)

Somewhere out there
the squirrel you didn't kill
is watching the sunset
with his squirrel best friend,
swapping stories 
about their squirrel childhoods,
rivals, love affairs, and strange
feelings that linger
like the smell of walnut skin
on your fingers.

"I keep having this dream," 
says Peanut. 
"This red-haired girl 
is crying, 
standing in the street,
looking at a stick. I'm not sure
what it means, 
but I can't forget it."

"Must be the stress," says Jumpy.
"You had to track, what, 9,000 nuts
last quarter? Don't crack on me, bro."

"You're right... of course
she isn't real."  
Peanut stares into the sea.,
thinks for a second 
he sees a mermaid.

The Pacific murmurs;
a salty sea breeze
drifts through their tails.

"Want some shrooms?" says Jumpy,
peeling some off the bark of a Cypress.
"Been saving 'em for something special."

"God yes."

Somewhere across space and time
the red haired girl 
puts the car in drive,
pops a walnut in her mouth
and heads for the coast.

Author's note: I did some research-- squirrels can remember the location of up to 9,000 nuts, so when you see them bury them, rest assured they actually eat them later. Squirrels are territorial and will fight to the death, hence why Peanut and Jumpy live far away from eachother. Squirrels also hide mushrooms in the bark of trees to dry them out and eat them later. Peanut and Jumpy are real squirrels I know personally. Overall I had a blast writing this. I think Jumpy kinda killed the poetic rhythm I had going, but I feel his dynamic in their friendship is to get through to Peanut. Lol. K bye!

Audrey Anderson is creative writing teacher, tarot reader, and author; founder of the first ever poetry slam at Morningside University and former editor of The Kiosk literary magazine; her poetry attempts to capture the mystical experience and her fiction reflects themes of social justice, inspired by her travels during the Arab Spring.