The Doe

When I see you in the late afternoon sun,
Folding your legs under you to lie beside my pasture fence,
Your ears pricked for the slightest sound,
Your large eyes staring to the south

I forget for a moment
Your depredations against my garden
Your devouring of my tulips, lilies, roses—
All those now abandoned as a fool’s dream–
Your nibbling of my acuba, hostas, and Solomon’s seal,
The tender buds of the white azaleas—

And now for this moment
See only your gentle beauty
In the shadows of this spring day.

April 30, 2018