Noiseless, revealed out of covering
Of leaves and trunks,
A browning deer from camouflage into sight.
Now two, then four
Tails flicking, noses twitching,
Barely rustling the air
Or severing sunlight, they are here,
Unaware invaders.
Sharing property in our hearts,
They awake us to airy dimension,
Presence of God.
The vision calls for a motionless gasp;
Frozen lest the spectacle bolts,
Shattering the moment,
Suddenly bereft.
Unaware they lightly possess
The clearing, once thought to be our yard.
Unapologetically they graze
Then raise their heads searching the breeze
For unfriendly scents and sounds.
Behind our glass door
We make ourselves smaller.
The deer enlarge, a troupe of three does
And a spotted fawn
Eying the bird feeder
But settling for seeds scattered below.
They sample the sweetest
Sprouts our spring flower beds offer;
We yield the field
To conquering gourmets.
After timeless interval
They get distracted, one by one,
Their heads lifted, their tails restless,
Harkening to an inaudible command
To move on.
Momentarily confused, they wander.
One finally captures the moment
And trots ahead out of our vision.
Suddenly they are a troop,
Marching in a line past our side window.
A perilous moment, they stumble before the street
By our front yard.
Slowly building confidence,
They abruptly throw themselves across to safety.
The walls of our vision are closing in,
Our hearts smaller, somehow
Our lives larger.
