Fill the Shoes of Another

Hard to Hide

Whispers, whispers, are in the air

We declare you are not there

We share in your presence, you leave it outside

For your presence is hard to hide

 Sometimes its bundles, sometimes its baskets

And sometimes you have another task to do, to get rid of a smell or two

Outside Your Realm

You do not keep it inside, for you like to hide the smell outside your realm

So, you place it outside to hide the smell, from you

But boy oh boy you leave behind a stench, you leave behind a golden hue

As in between you and us this is a plus, for we know a meal is to be had

Transformation

So, as you nod off and go to sleep, we complete our transformation, from day until night

For we are not here to cause fright in the night, it is our time to explore

And explore we do

Much of it is because of the stew, that you leave behind

For you are inclined to rid your house of stench 

And you place its presence in a container or two

But you being you, you’re not so careful, you being you, you’re not so bright 

Lift That Lid

For it might take us a little bit of scrambling, it might take us a bit of reconfiguring, but we will lift that lid, and spread its contents, find out what we can see

And then my dears not only will we see what we can see, but we ingest what is only, the best

And we’re sorry, but you did not make a request, to clean up our mess

So, when we are done, we just run

Run

Now run is not actually a description of what we do, for many of you have never seen us run, we can perhaps move quickly, and for some of you that is fun to watch, but run is not what you have ever been taught 

We tend to scurry; we tend to amble on

But we belong in your neighborhood and you make us welcome

Why else would you leave a delicious meal for us 

We must admit it is a plus

Olfactory Zones

We the Racoons of the Land want you to understand, you provide a smorgasbord 

Many of you do not realize what you leave behind, for we are inclined to use our Olfactory Zones 

But that is not what alone leads us to you

Let’s review we like to live close to you, not too close, but close enough

For we prefer to not have to work too hard

So, that means we would prefer to be in your yard, especially if you become oblivious to who is making a mess

Looking Up

But we are well aware and we will attest that many of you don’t always just look at the ground

You have a habit of looking up

And some of you who look up find our eyes, for surprise, surprise, we’re up in a tree 

And if this is your daily ritual, we will likely be asleep

But our young ones often choose to peak down, their sleep schedule isn’t right yet

Opportunists

We the Raccoons of the Land want you to understand, we choose our habitat carefully, for we are opportunists we look for the best way in

And if our habitat which used to be in the forest, which is few and far between, guess where we’ll go instead

Yes, we are led in your direction

So, if you don’t want us around, we would suggest to you, don’t leave an easy access hole, for us to crawl through

Now you being you, don’t always notice 

And we hope that continues we hope you don’t mind

For we are inclined to make it as comfortable as possible

And if that means we make a mess of your place, that is what we’ll do

For you see as our habitat shrinks, as our homes disappear, we want to make it perfectly clear, we will survive, we will adapt

And if you as humans want to show us the door, there are ways of doing that, there are ways of sending that message 

Homelessness

Therefore, we the Raccoons of the Land want you to understand, we don’t mean to cause you harm, we don’t mean to cause you stress

But we are here to address a situation many of you are familiar with, homelessness

For homelessness is just that lack of a home

Now we alone are not the only ones, who suffer from this

In our case, you as humans have had a lot to do with that

And we being opportunists and we being inventive, try to blend, try to stay out of sight 

Unless of course it is the night 

State of Chaos

Now some of you see us, as we stand waiting for you to go by

We have spied you, we’ve known of your presence, long before you are aware of us 

Some of you will cuss, some of you will stomp your feet

For we can complete a state of chaos, a state of mess

But we attest we are establishing a new habitat, we are establishing a new home

And if you just left our habitat alone, we would not be interested in your home

Trees

We used to have places to live in hollowed out trees

But those trees need to live too, those trees need to mature, those trees need to be in elderhood

We the Raccoons of the Land want you to understand, trees have a role, trees have a place to stay

And especially many of those trees that you say, are getting too old, they’re leaving a mess

We would like to protest; they are our habitat, please leave them alone

But we do not say this just for habitat alone, we say this for they’re also part of our Food Zone 

Our Way of Being

If all the trees disappear, the large and the small, the deadfall and the newly born, we are torn from our food source, we are torn from our way of being

But we are seeing easier picking, we are seeing what you leave behind

So, we are inclined to take the easy way out

Unless of course you make a different choice

And that is to listen to many Species of the Land who want you to understand, green spaces are needed, forests as well

We would prefer a natural habitat; we would prefer to be away from you

Separate

For where we are able to stay away, we are able to blend in, be a part of 

Whereas when we join in your habitat, when we join in your way of being, we are seeing ourselves as different, we are seeing ourselves as separate 

And we are not exactly welcome, we are not exactly a part of the natural realm of things, we know it and you do too

So, our question you is, what are you going to do

If you don’t like us in your place of being, and you are seeing the future, and you are seeing the way things are, how can you change your ways

How can you display a different way

There is another way

Work Cut Out for You

Clean up your mess, keep it airtight

Close down the hatches, be aware 

Do not share your home freely

Look for footprints, where do they go

So those footprints will show you the evidence, those footprints will show you the way

And if we decide to stay, you have your work cut out for you

For we are a persistent lot and we spread the word

Early Years

Some of you when you see us in our early years, it would appear we are cute, we are adorable, not unlike your own offspring

We are here to suggest to you, we are not a pet, we are wild 

Yes, we could possibly make you smile; yes we could possibly make you curious, but we are here to say we watch you too, we wonder what you are about 

So therefore, when you see our offspring, please leave them alone 

And we too, will respect your very own

Cupboard is Bare

If you want to know more, find out what we eat

Is there a store of it close by, or do you spy the cupboard is bare, the cupboard is empty

Then you’ll start to understand why we are where we are 

It’s that simple, a place to live and food to eat, is that so hard to understand

So, if you are trying to understand our plan, if you’re try to understand our ways of being, see it through your eyes

For those of you who do not have a home, through no fault of your own, you too may see it through

For without a home a situation changes

Be aware 

Why Are They There

So certain animals visit you often, and certain animals make you feel uncomfortable by their presence, the question is why are they there

Is it you they’re after, or is it a place to live, a place to eat

Those of you who live on the street, can answer that question well

For all you request is to have a place to stay, to have some food to eat

That my dears would help you all to feel more complete 

Calling

For those of you who have no home, for those of you who have missed a meal or two, many a raccoon could say the same

They understand that lane, they understand that way of being

Is it something they did or didn’t do

Or was the shoe too big or too small

Was it their Calling in life, was it yours

There is Another Way

We the Raccoons of the Land want you to understand, any of us who are homeless want a home, any of us who have missed a meal or two would prefer, not to

We the Raccoons of the Land want you to all understand, there is much we can share with each other

There is a way for you to display, there is another way

So, we the Raccoons of the Land want you to understand, it’s in you to give

New Reality

For if you were to once live without a home, with a few skipped meals, you would see a new reality, you would see a new sight 

For without seeing that new sight, you might ignore it, you might turn away

And you might even say it’s not my problem

Judge Not 

We the Raccoons of Land want you to understand, when you see through the eyes of another, you can discover a new wisdom, a new understanding

Judge not 

Fill the shoes of another, before you discover what the truth really is 

See the truth, know the truth, live the truth

Are you living through a full understanding, or are you just turning a blind eye

For what your eyes see, you don’t want to see, so you turn away

Is that to say it does not matter, is that to say it is not your problem

Look Through Our Eyes

We the Raccoons of the Land want you to understand, we are a persistent lot, we will find a way

And if you want to have a say, look through our eyes, look through our disguise

What do you see, what do you feel, what do you experience, is it what you expected 

The Raccoons of the Land want you to understand, we have so much to teach you

All we need to do is have you be willing to learn, be willing to see another way