Mark Forrester

Call of the Wild

At night, my daughter’s security camera records three fox cubs nosing around their backyard pool. It is spring, and the adult fox they have glimpsed from time to time in the woods has proven fruitful.

My granddaughter gathers a few wilted buds torn from weeds and leaves them near the pool. She says they are food for the fox cubs. Because the buds are yellow, she calls them corn.

That night, she is too excited to sleep. She pulls back the curtains, peers through the window, trying to detect any movement in the darkness. She climbs out of bed, runs to her mother, tells her that she can hear the baby foxes calling her name.

empty cicada shells—
her small stick
striking the tree

---

About the Author

Mark Forrester has taught English at the University of Maryland for more than 25 years. He is a high school dropout, a former chef, and a husband, father, and grandfather.