Each Living Thing

Each Living Thing
By Joanne Ryder
Watch out for spiders dangling in their webs,
for snakes who coil and slither in the grass,
for toads who lurch and leap across the road- please stop to let them pass.
Look out for wriggling worms and creeping snails,
for darting bees who dip among the flowers,
for streaming ants who streak the dusty hills- please step around their sandy towers.
Be careful of snapping crabs and swooping gulls,
of floating jellyfish, afloat and free,
for alligators slyly drifting by and giant turtles, circling in the sea.
Be wary of bears who linger in the dusk,
of owls hooting, hunting in the night,
of bats who flitter, whirling overhead, and cougars pausing, prowling gout of sight.
Watch out for every living thing, for all beasts fine and free, who grace the earth and ride the skies and glide within the sea.
Be aware of them.
Take care of them.
Be watchful. Let them be.