Two Sisters

By John I. Blair

Two sisters show up every night;
Each wears gray fur
And points an arrow nose,
Totes a tail of body length.

Possums lead short lives –
Ten to twenty months –
And yet their family’s been here
More than fifty million years.

How to explain? Like us
Omnivorous,
Devouring anything
That doesn’t eat them first,
They trust to luck.

Nocturnal loners,
Holing up by day
When risks are rife,
Emerging after dark.

Beasts of little intellect,
They boast a brain
A fifth the size of coons
(To mention one example).

Profligate with babies,
They’ll hatch three dozen, with
Only thirteen teats for feeding;
Those who arrive in time survive.

If these facts contain a clue
Why, like us,
They’re so successful
I’m not sure I want to know.

©2018 John I. Blair, 7/21/2018