“When the Deer Come”
From walls of trapped urgency,
time-ticks of need,
I slam into the blush of fading day
sudden and soundless
they appear
from trees and hollowed slopes
long-limbed doe, spotted fawns
nuzzle backyard grass,
dining in the dusk.
unhurried feast blurs the border
between wild and me.
doe’s eyes find my face; we both freeze.
the great earthen chest breathes in & out
I sink into coexistence,
this trusting communion.
exhale hushed, I yield to fragile waiting –
she bows her head and stays.
somewhere close, the river
runs east to the sea.
out there, all those fish leaping free.
somewhere close, all this life –
gardenias and delphinium,
loblolly pines, oaks and maples untamed.
only a backyard in the space between.
the sun sets
and this is the world at rest
no matter my striving & sorrow & strain.
when the deer come,
I am stilled.
surrendered.
small enough to remember
I am seen.
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