fox and the hound

on weak ankles

stumbles and grins,

looks two ways at once

then bolts!

head back

elbows waving

tail swings orange

tipped with white

like a backwards marker.

footsteps wander

like a bent wheel.

sporadic and charming.

i stand perplexed,

watch her grow smaller,

then the spark lights me too--

i bolt!

cloth ears flap against my cheeks

the sidewalk pounds,

glows like street lamps,

and the fox hovers in the hounds' eye

like the center of the universe.