THE GRAVITY OF DEER

I saw one buck on the first day of deer season

And one buck again on the last

but nothing in between

The buck on the first day

Walked toward me, calmly

Like I was leading him on a string

how most of us walk toward death

till we catch a whiff

and dig our heels in

But I only had a shot between the eyes

And so much time ahead

The buck on the last day

Ran

With his whole life in his legs

Like I was the strongest magnet

Upside down

They both had this way of twisting time

One made it feel long

One made it feel gone

Both were right

Isn’t it something

To know gravity

And the million things a day

that still rise

The trees grow straight up

The rains fall straight down

I got out of bed

The kinglets fly on by

I squat to look at a coral reef

A tidepool

I mean a puddle

Sal leans in for a kiss

I fall for her every time

I realize that I’ve never broken a sweat over anyone without a strong permian brow

Am I crawling out of the mud

Or back into it

I think romance needs water nearby

Like all of us

Sometimes a mirage will do

We can drink deeply of our belief

We’ve taken to wearing sweaters

And following the low slants of light around the house

Like magnets

Right side up

Tugged in slow circles by the sun

Mammals migrating

From couch to woodshed to kitchen sink

And all the way around again

Into the gravity of deer.