A lamentable outcome

We are a family
As wild as can be
We live in the forest
It’s our sanctuary
Experienced parents
With yes cubs in tow
Sat in our earth
A few feet below

Autumn chills present
Trees losing leaves
A cold wind engaging
Our spirit achieves
Much in a way
In this earth where we be
Living our life
In the true mystery

The clipper tee clop
Of the riders we hear
Tally Ho Joe
And the riches that flow
The yelping of hounds
In their trail hunting spree
Puts the fear into us
Where down here we be

Venturing forth
It’s food that we need
A rabbit perhaps
We have to concede
It is our right
To be hunting as well
Feeding our family
A glorious spell

We can feel them above
The raucous their weight
The horses the hounds
That old creaking gate
Fear is upon us
The clatter the crunch
It’s time in the forest
And it’s time for lunch

A peck from the vixen
A shuffle or two
From the cubs a few rubs
And we do what we do
Out the back door through the hedges
We go
A silent sojourn
As the wind starts to blow

The neigh of the horses
The yippety high
The squirrel men cometh
All feelings are high
We hear the digging
The cold steel on earth
The blades ever near
To where she gave birth

Coming back what I found
A home torn apart
A family all bloodied
A broken heart
A cold dank divide
Fur here and there
Clods busted about
In the winter air

The trail Hunting mob
Apparently they
Watched as I exited
And ran away
The hounds were embittered
Our scent on their mind
Murder committed
The public though blind

So many foxes
Are disturbed every day
Broken and bleeding
In a sordid display
Torn limb from limb
By the starving hounds who
Are neglected by men
It’s what they do

The laws are broken
Wildness is lost
Families of foxes
And others a cost
To so many who care
Who live lives and who die
Defending their rights
To be free