Snow lizards

Scramble through the garden ahead

On a Cold, clear day

They walk out over

A light crust on the snow

Covering the four-inch base.

The children walk in the sunlight on either side

When the lizards,

Burst from a mogul

To enter the path ahead.

The children are instantly on alert

Scooting out ahead, hands held low.

While the lizards, a perfect pair

March steadily forward

Just out of reach

As if they are not even aware

The children are there.

Snow lizards,

Light green, blue-gray,

The male with the bright double row of

Blue spots down its back;

The female with the bright double row

Of red spots down her back.

They slip under a fence

Inches ahead of the children

Never missing a step

A perfect pair of 17-inch lizards

Moving across the snow.