Large Fierce Mammal

This buck turned up at the end of a road Mrs. LFM and I were simply following to see where it went – as it turned out it went to him. His svelte pre-rut physique and velvet covered antlers can’t come close to the raw power expressed by the Deer I speak of in what follows, but he’s still a fine specimen. (Mrs. LFM photo)

A long time ago, I had a brief and exceedingly primal relationship with the Deer that is the inspiration for this poem. In brief, I had come to kill him but, at the moment we met for the first and only time, he made a compelling argument to the effect that he had more pressing matters to attend to than to die just then. I will never forget his fixed and unafraid gaze, his regal stance, and the twin clouds of his breath as they left his nostrils and drifted away on the late autumn breeze.

Let it not be said that I spared his life, for that would imply that I was in control of the engagement. Neither can it be said that, had my need been more compelling than his, my hand would have been stayed. Nature, in all Her power held sway that day, as on all days.

This poem is dedicated to him. Long life and many does my Brother.

Connection

By LFM

The mist was in the hollows,
Darkly lit in morning’s still.
I stood at forest’s edge as I
Prepared myself to kill.

Within my heart there burned a Truth
No creature can deny –
For one thing’s life to carry on,
Another thing must die.

And so I sought a harmony
Of purpose crystal clear,
Before my Spirit moved to seek
The Spirit of the Deer.

Then silently I made my way
To meet and ask my Brother
To give that greatest gift
One can bestow upon another.

On soft shod feet, an hour hence
I knelt beside a clearing,
With heart beat sychronized to his
Whose Spirit I was nearing.

‘Twas when I stood that there, ahead,
A lying figure rose –
A sweet, fat Doe who soon was nought
But steam from out her nose.

For though my rifle came to bear,
I watched her run away,
Even as I swung it back
To where my Brother lay.

And standing now, he took a step,
Then looked into my soul,
As I did his, and there we stood,
Each fixed upon his goal.

How long we stood I cannot say,
Nor do I think could he;
But much was said between us both,
My Brother Deer and me.

In that time, no other thing
Existed for us two.
Eye to eye, we talked of nought
But what we both should do.

My Brother spoke of business
He had yet the end to see.
His need was more compelling
Than the one I’d brought with me.

And so my Brother made his point
In one lung filling breath.
With snorted steam upon the wind
He said his no to death.