I struck a hen pheasant
&
[in my rear-view] she
burst & rolled –
I should
have turned around
[to
see her as dead –
a trick
not employed enough]
but –
instead –
I kept on
that twisting lane’s run
from her fast flutters –
I
clipped a bounding fat
badger on Ashdown –
it
was gone on my return
[£20 bounties paid out
by TB researchers for a
fresh body] –
A hen will
only reward on a plate
& not pay out –
lessons
learned in Sussex days