DEER∞
EVERYDAY I THOUGHT OF THE DEER.
[SIGH]
THE DEER
LAST NIGHT / HIS PALMS. VISION OF THE DEER
IN HER OWN LUMINESCENCE. DEER IN THE TALL GRASSES.
DEER ON THE HIGHWAY. DEER WHERE THE POND
TURNS INWARDS / DEER WHERE THE FOREST TURNS OUT.
IN THE MIRROR MY EYES GAPED. THE THOUGHT OF IT ALL.
I CRADLED MY ANTLERS. MY COLLARBONE STURDY AND GLOW.
THE AFTERTASTE WAS THAT MUCH DEEPER. WHAT COULD IT MEAN TO BE EATEN
UP.
DEER DISORIENTED / KICK TRIP FUR CRUSH SHIMMY DOWN THE BANKS: RUNS
TO RIVER.
PHOTO OF THE SUN-BLEACHED HEAD IN THE SHARP REEDS
[GASP]
VISION OF THE DEER POST-COLLISION. CAREENS THROUGH LOW GROWTH
TOWARDS
WATER. LIFE CINCH INTO ALGAE-VERSE. WORMHOLES ENCHANT THE MUD. HER
HIGHEST [INHALE / SIP IN AT THE TOP—MORE] HIGHS [EXHALE COUNT DOWN DO
RE MI]
HER LOWEST [EXPEL TO THE DREGS] LOWS. SEE: HELIX: SAFETIES: EXPOSURES.
I SAW THE DEER AU NATUREL THEN IN NEON AND ECSTATIC BLUE.
PFAS / SCENT TRAILS / BLOOD TRAILS...
TO DIE FOR. VENISON / HER MUSCLES...
HER MICROPLASTICS... HER MACRO...
THE BUCK / FINALLY / PHOTOGRAPHED SWIMMING FROM SHORE.
HOW DEEP / HOW THICK—TRAVERSE. TRANSVERSAL: SLANT OF TIDE-TAUT LINE.
I THOUGHT ABOUT THE SLENDER TREES IN A CITY I LIVED IN. I THOUGHT ABOUT
BLEACHED REEFS AND SQUID UNDER STREETLIGHTS. I THOUGHT ABOUT
LEONORA CARRINGTON AND I THOUGHT ABOUT A PETRIFIED BODY / IF
DREAMING
EXITS ; EXTINCTIONS ; JOLT.
PUKE IN MY MOUTH: THE THOUGHT OF IT: HER HOOF IN A BAIT BAG
HOW A PENDULUM REPORTS ‘THE PLANET IS A SPHERE’ THANK YOU? HOW THE
PENDULUM KILLS—IF YOU ARE DESIRED —> CONSUMED IF YOU ARE NOT
IT FOLLOWS: YOU MAY BE OTHERWISE DESTROYED
HERE GOES ASTRAY: THE DEER BENDS ON HER FORELEGS TOUCHING MOSS.
NOW WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SOOTHE. SUMMER / THEN WINTER.
I THOUGHT A LOT ABOUT ELECTRICITY CHARRING WOOD / AS IF LIGHTENING
NIGHTVISION / CHANNELS / TICKS / BEAMING
GREEN. HER MUSK. HER NARROW FACE / THE LIGHT
DEAR DEER, —
IN THE VISION I KEEP MY ANTLERS ABOVE WATER
PHOTOS FROM HIM OF YOUR HEART ON FIRE. IN A PALM RAW / THEN CHARRED.
FLINCH. AND THE PINCH OF HER FRONT TEETH.
AM I DYING? YES. NOT YET. PINCH ME
[PINCH]
DEER IN THE HARBOR / A WHOLE HERD SWIMMING / STOPS TRAFFIC
DEER IN THE BRACKISH. DEER IN THE BRINE.
‘DEAR’ / SPEAK DEAR / DEER: I REMEMBER NOW!
IN THE WET / I CRADLED MY ANTLERS
I TURNED SWIFTLY TOWARDS THE HUNTER.
I DID AS I PLEASED!
MY ESTUARY / MY ESTUARY!
[POUNCE / THEN MELT]
EVERYDAY I THOUGHT OF THE DEER.
Anna Drzewiecki (she/they) is a ‘sick’ poet living in Maine. She studied at Sarah Lawrence College and the University of Oxford’s School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography. She works at a sauna and teaches English at a community college. Read their writing in FENCE, Flaunt, Przekroj, The Maine Review, and elsewhere. Website: wrack.zone