Email address: COMMENTARY “Porcupine,” Tempera and Sharpie with Quills on canvas, by Uma Szczesny We came upon a dead porcupine recently… freshly dead most likely, the poor fellow well preserved but still soft, his brown and tan quills swaying in the forest wind. My daughter had never seen a porcupine up close and it’s in her nature to be drawn to new things in the natural world. I’m usually more circumspect when it comes to discovering dead things – more cautious. Perhaps the little rodent was scared and just playing dead and would leap up as we drew near and bulls-eye us with a quiver of quills. Or perhaps his body would burst forth with a tornado of flesh-eating insects.