Deer
by
Amethyst

doe with leaf-shadowed eyes
will you let me stay?
rest down in grasses
beside your velvet warmth?
will you wound me with your fear
if I am not a deer?

I will clothe myself in moonlight
and walk the narrow paths
eat thimbleberries and sweet leaves
I will let the dew shake down
onto my shoulders
renounce my hands
walk with your quadruple step
and your vigilant grace

and when I come to the still pool
silhouetted mirror
the heart that hurts too much to be
will look
leaf-shadowed
from behind my eyes
deep, deep into the water
beyond the rim of moonlight
searching the shaded outlines
for the reflection of a deer