Elegy for a Hare

As winter began
I saw a hare,
Caught as she ran,
In a fence's snare.
Her eye was bright,
Though glazed with frost
And without sight.

Her life was lost.

As I passed by,
Day after day,
My sad heart cried
For her decay.
One crisp bright morn
A blanket I spread,
Dry leaves to adorn
Her, tail to head.

A little prayer
I muttered, "Peace,"
And blessed the hare
For sweet release.
Was she fleeing,
Panic, prey?
Or simply being
Hare at play?

Four moons away,
Her sisters dance
Under the sway
Of lunar trance.