Gilded and Overlooked

Small and mighty you are,

red-brown tail, bushy with excitement as you scuttle through branches,

nimble limbs etched in tree bark,

your gleaming eyes patrolling your territory,

you see mankind through the cracks.

You are fast,

agile,

ducking under thorns, over ant piles, under the rotten, fallen log,

you leap.

Because you know what you want, what it takes to get it,

because survival is sweeter than honey,

more bitter than the acorns you shove into your furry mouth.

Yet,

you don’t always remember where your little paws have stashed those acorns,

nor do you always remember which oak you call home, through the miles of forest.

And maybe,

when your mother calls you for dinner,

you linger in the aroma of dead leaves.

Maybe,

when your cheeks bulge with your prize,

resisting the urge to laugh with those who laugh at you

is what saves you from choking.

Maybe your fear of big animals is

why you don’t venture out into the city,

why your home is always under attack

by tall, hairy creatures with colorful fabric on their bodies.

Their colors scare you.

But maybe,

it’s because it wasn’t meant for you.

Maybe you were meant to be in this small form.

You are found, lurking in the shadows of every street’s corner.

And maybe you are

just a brown, little thing,

fur encasing soft bone,

beady eyes aware, watching.

If you were bigger and reckless,

you would be a human—

you face what we face,

but we will never know,

of your sorrow or your love,

even though you know of ours.

You avoid busy streets,

unknown trees,

sidewalk cracks,

dog attacks,

and your tail still reaches the golden sky,

like a flame.

Hannah Masudi ‘26

Animals have humanoid qualities beneath the surface— this would be apparent if only we paused to look. We'll never truly know what makes a creature's heart throb or their mind race... or even if they feel in those ways at all. But what we do know? When it comes to feeling, it isn't just humans who feel, but every living thing around us, too.