the doe

dawn deliquesced
a rose dissolved on the tongue of the sun
i, walking, ears brined, eyes  watering.

a deer and her fawn crossed in front of me

though i carved myself from the still
the stilted baby saw
ears forward, face a sketch of curiosity
mamma too busy ushering to notice
and i uphill, downwind
light hanging
from the shoulders of the bridge behind me

when the doe’s muzzle slung
to the roar of my soundlessness
i was close enough
to trace the pulse of fluted hollows
between skull and jaw
the ligament at her temple
bulged and fell
to the cud of breakfast

and when the muscles in her neck
shot a jump of recognition
the amber terror for her child
it hurt to the bone
to see my form reflected there

i blinked
and she swung
them both as one
toward the bracken
where they melted
into breath and loam