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