a time when

deer stole through the white wood

imagining warmer green leaves,

bluer stars,

an unbroken planet

their chocolate eyes  

imagining kinder voices inside 

winter forest distances, streams 

emanating frozen breath, clumps of snow 

falling from yellow and gold birch

wounded ripped deer

had imagined lucid silver pools,

endless earth trails, grass

innocent of boot print

devoid of a hunters' shells

handsome classic deer

would recall seasons when apples fell, 

there to lick, taste,

imagined woods without vengeance, 

verdant hills and dells to roam

but today or tomorrow is not a time 

when imagination merges with life,

not an age when dreams are realized,

not an epoch when a young child 

survives a hunter's bullet to live out her life, 

unconditionally,

unbroken 

6/14/16

Delray Beach, FL