Scat

and I don’t mean scram.
or syllabic singing.

I mean the sign of who’s been there before you

Once —
an entire skeletal raccoon claw
still intact post digestion via cougar

So often
the thick fruit puree, seed laden
where bears gorged
on huckle-, salmon-, thimble- and mountain ash berries,
palate-cleansing grubs;
utter disregard for blocking half the trail.

Still-warm, crumbling elk piles —
ungulate-processed grasses,
reassure the harmlessness of the cracking understory.

So much fur —
apparently the roughage in a carnivorous feast —
hard not to imagine
the mouthfeel of eating the entirety,
the carnage
of a suspecting or (hopefully) unsuspecting coyote dinner.

Black, tarry refuse:
what was that?
insects?

So many more….This,
this is what passes

for solitude in the woods.

I’ll take it,
cautiously.