Night Vision

Headlamp reaching into the darkness,

I walk the wooded path looking for eyeshine:

Deer coon possum fox?

The night is still, no glowing orbs to spark my mind.

But diamonds gleam in the damp leaf litter:

Dew droplets?

I fasten my eyes on one diamond light

And creep up to find

A wolf.

Wolf spider, that is, hunting its prey

Under cover of darkness.

Hunter eyes reflecting diamond light

Into my own.

Tapetum lucidum, that tapestry of light

Bouncing moon rays and starlight

To brighten spider’s path.

What gems, what treasures, to find

In the night!

And how many more around,

If only we had eyes to see?