For about an hour today
as the sun set
before dusk
I watched a lizard
climb rocks
in my yard.
He, no bigger than my pinkie
jumped from rock to rock.
Now he does push ups,
raises his belly
and I can see his throat
pump like a bellows.
He turns his head,
he eyes me,
lifts his tail
as if scenting the air.
He swings his tail
over the edge of the rock
like a yoyo string
catching and releasing
the rough surface.
I watch him
catch small black ants
skimming the rock.
His jaws move up and down.
Just as the cicadas
start their next round
of buzzing
he throws himself down
flat onto the sandstone
and pretends to be
an ancient fossil.
When the buzzing stops
he picks himself up
leaps to the next rock
and the next
and then out of sight.
Perhaps you think
I've wasted
a good evening hour
but I ask you,
how did you spend
your twilight hour?
