The prairie dog and the berry

The deserts hot glow,

Will make you hungry don’t you know?

as my belly grumbles from the heat,

I realize I haven’t even had a drink,

I scan the horizon with my gaze,

Is that a berry bush in the distant haze?

As I scamper over there to see,

I pop my head up to look around me,

I learned my lesson from the last time,

To make sure there are no predators behind.

As I hold the berry in my hand,

I try to figure out if I had seen it on this land.

So dark in color and texture too,

I wonder if it is truly food?

But it scent is subtle and sweet,

I crack it open and touch its meat,

Everything has check out on my end,

I take a tiny bite to check it when,

A harsh gasp fills my throat,

I spit it out into the moat,

I guess it was poison you see,

You simply got to test everything.

That’s when I spot a red berry up ahead,

And I am off to test everything again.