Poems by Susan Vidd

It was merely happenstance
As I walked about my home
To note the movement in the grass
Of a creature with a dome.

Cautiously I moved forward
Steady was my pace.
It was hard to see just what it was,
The turf had masked its base.

To my surprise it was a turtle;
Indigenous to Ohio.
Identification revealed colorful markings
According to its bio.

It is known as the painted turtle
And it was headed for the street.
Turn around my little friend,
Move those little feet.

It was determined as ever
to continue on its quest.
But I knew its direction
Should be south and not northwest.

It moved closer to the road
Where cars were speeding by.
I could not let it continue
There was a good chance it would die.

I picked up the painted turtle
Who had traveled, oh, so far,
The lake from whence it came is south,
Not north beneath a car.

I placed it on brown pebbles
At the baseline of our lake
Convinced it now would settle;
A good deed for its own sake.

It was never its intention
To rest upon that shore.
No sooner had I turned around,
It was on the move once more.

Frustrated I stop and take a glance
To see my neighbor smirking.
He approached me with a smile and said
"What you did is just not working."

He told me of her history
"I know she will not rest.
She is compelled to keep on moving -
Two years my yard reserved her nest."

Well, I will carry her across the street
To the soft grasses of that nest,
Then it must be out of my hands
As nature's plan is best.

But, I just can't seem to let it go.
I look for her each day.
She will return to my lake
In early June or May.

Turtles are smarter than you think.
She boasts a colorful mark.
It is quite possible she will cross the street
And make it safely to my park.

There is an instinct within us all.
It seems to be very strong.
By helping her to cross that street,
I pray I was not wrong.

In the year of 2020
When life was full and plenty,
A terrible plague besieged the world
Chaos and sorrow worldwide unfurled.

In isolation and fear we dwelt
Uncertainty and confusion was what we felt;
Masking our own fears from our little ones
Masquerading the pain from our daughters and sons.

Our innocent youth confused, unaware
Of the isolation they are now forced to bear.
We are afforded the freedom to walk the street
But not close to our neighbors perchance we meet.

To retain some normalcy there came a plan
Place teddy bears in the window for children to scan.
It would help as the young ones would take a walk
To look for a teddy bear on every block.

"Look mommy, there's a pink teddy bear
And a gray one at that house with long fuzzy hair!"
And so it went on as a method to cope,
Living each day with a prayer and hope.

Now four years later 2024
Situation better but not quite like before;
My own teddy bear remains on my sill
And will be there forever or maybe until...

We remember how fragile life can be
Not take things for granted, Teddy and me!