What’s your favorite wild animal?
I answer the child’s question without hesitation.

I’ve always love zebras
for the distinctive black-and-white

striped pattern on their coats

patterns as unique as
fingerprints — no two exactly alike.

I love everything black and white —

the morning’s crossword puzzle
black letters upon white paper

Scrabble and Domino tiles
dice on board games

clear glass salt and pepper shakers

the memory of two loons
on Bear Lake, Alaska

black and white family photos

surprise sighting of a rare and beautiful
white Monarch butterfly

one long-necked pileated woodpecker
black with white stripes

old films — Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Marty
endure for generations

and my long onyx and pearl beads
inherited from my mother,

loosely knotted, hanging low.


© by Sharon Lask Munson.
Used with the author’s permission.