NEW NEIGHBOR
Who are you, bushy bundle?
Waddling with a will
through the crevice
that separates our hut
from the one next door.
I see you nosing your way
past trash
and dirt-caked paths
that have carved themselves
between
half-baked homes,
hungry
for anything
that will change them
from makeshift
to livable.
Bushy bundle,
what brings you here
to the cruddy gutters
of Kalma?
I never saw a creature
like you on our village farm.
spots your waddle
that I learn of the proper name
chosen for you by Allah,
when the Almighty was molding creatures.
Old Anwar greets you with
the same respect
he shows all living things.
He bows to address you.
“Hello, hedgehog.”
