He thought it was just a photo of a bird on an outcrop.
It was months before he noticed a grey patch, an error?
A smudge on the lens? It was the same color
as the perch, but different texture, fur rather than rock.
Rounded ears, rosette markings, steady eyes
that lacked fear, that knew him not to be a threat,
but worthy of study in case he disrupted the natural order.
He’d known she could be there: had seen footprints,
scat, a kill, set camera traps to catch a mountain ghost
who’d remained a spirit. Her wide pads silencing
her steps, her tail a balance, preventing a skitter of stones
which might have given her away. He suspected he
was watched, but never knew how close this guardian
had got until, months later, he studied a printout of a photo
and she was watching him looking but not seeing her.
He thought it was just a photo of a bird on an outcrop.
It was months before he noticed a grey patch, an error?
A smudge on the lens? It was the same color
as the perch, but different texture, fur rather than rock.
Rounded ears, rosette markings, steady eyes
that lacked fear, that knew him not to be a threat,
but worthy of study in case he disrupted the natural order.
He’d known she could be there: had seen footprints,
scat, a kill, set camera traps to catch a mountain ghost
who’d remained a spirit. Her wide pads silencing
her steps, her tail a balance, preventing a skitter of stones
which might have given her away. He suspected he
was watched, but never knew how close this guardian
had got until, months later, he studied a printout of a photo
and she was watching him looking but not seeing her.