Chipmunk

Little chipmunk, do you know All you mean to me?-- She and I and Long Ago, And you there in the tree; With that nut between your paws, Half-way to your twittering jaws, Jaunty with your striped coat, Puffing out your furry throat, Eyes like some big polished seed, Plumed tail curved like half a lyre . . . We pretended not to heed-- You, as though you would inquire 'Can I trust them?' . . . then a jerk, And you'd skipped three branches higher, Jaws again at work; Like a little clock-work elf, With all the forest to itself. She was very fair to see, She was all the world to me, She has gone whole worlds away; Yet it seems as though to-day, Chipmunk, I can hear her say; 'Get that chipmunk, dear, for me----' Chipmunk, you can never know All she was to me. That's all--it was long ago.