taloned

i pedaled by a dead mouse
or was it a vole — half-chewed

mangled in the road

i spotted an osprey by its nest
was that the killer
or was it an owl

a peregrine
an eagle?

what left a mostly whole rodent
taloned
in the middle of the road?

What I’m Reading:

Debt, infidelity, children’s misbehavior, not attending church and women deemed to be scolds were all punishable by jail. Miscreants and unfortunates were housed alongside murderers and rapists. Women and the insane were housed on the third floor.

— The Museum In The Streets / Wicasset, ME