old man
on a rock ledge
by long rapids
rapids roar
sends memories
floating
upriver a shadow
emerges from brush
a doe drinks
the doe wades midstream
stops to wind scent
old man watches
reminiscing decades
of wading this sacred river
the doe moves
wades the shallow river
to the far bank
doe climbs ashore
walks a few yards
reenters the cool water
old man has never
witnessed a deer
aimlessly wading like himself
many minutes pass
the doe disappears
behind a far bend
Deer are herbivores. Sort of like very large rabbits or very skinny cows. There was no logical reason for the deer to wade around aimlessly in the river for at least ten or fifteen minutes. The riverbed is scoured with troughs and ledges. If the old man were to slip - which he has done and torn his big toe ligament - he will recover. If the deer were to slip and damage her delicate legs, it would be a death sentence for her.
My friend Doug, who is a professional nature videographer, says it's too bad I didn't have a video camera to record this scene (better than bad haikuish*).
*At one of the early meetings of Haiku Canada at Eric Amann's apartment one of us asked a respected visiting Japanese haijin what the Japanese call poetry which looks like haiku, but isn't - "haikuish"!
No comments:
Post a Comment