POEM A DAY – August 18 – VANESSA SHIELDS

White Squirrel (with accent)

forty-eight years I been roamin’ this earth and I ain’t never saw’d
what I saw’d today ‘til today! a white squirrel! I seen it, I did!
I was drivin’ toward home and dang somethin’ caught my eye
somethin’ white and squirmin’, somethin’ white and skiddin’
a red roof under a white body – dang white squirrel chasin’
a nut. I dang near crashed my vee-hic-al! I tell ya, it was
somethin’! made this ol’ face here stretch into a smile
sure did. sure did. I thought, this here’s a keeper, it is
this rare sightin’. seein’ a skiddaddlin’ white squirrel
on my way toward home. I’m keepin’ this moment
tuckin’ it in a poem. sure am. sure am.

*For some reason, when I was writing this poem, I heard a thick southern accent. Kind of like if Mater from ‘Cars’ was narrating.

I just went with it! Fun fact: did you know that Exeter, Ontario is home to the ‘white squirrel’? And oftentimes, white squirrels are seen in Belle River! Where I was when I saw one! So wild!