paw prints

Whatever walked ahead of me
  Left paw prints in the snow
And wild or domesticated,
  I will not, do not know. 

I think a squirrel or otter may
  Have passed this way before,
And humans with their canine friends
  Have passed this way before,

A bunny may have hopped this way,
  A ferret or a mink,
It might have been a skunk, but then
  There would have been a stink. 

It couldn’t be a hippo ‘cause
  They do not like the cold.
I'd follow it all through the woods
  If I were feeling bold.

But I don’t want to meet a wolf,
  Nor would a fox I greet.
Perhaps I should have stayed at home,
  Walked safely on my street. 

There’s comfort written in the ice
  That chills me to the bone:
Amid the loneliest winter tracts
  At least I'm not alone. 

Liz McFadzean