Listen, deer people! Hear me! I know you do not travel so far nor sleep so soundly as to miss my voice. You deer who browse the meadows, eat the grass, and chew the lichen down - You're welcome to them! You deer who cut the cedar's twigs and prune the evergreen for food - You're welcome to them! You deer who take the forest shadows for a home and make a bed out of the litter of the forest floor - You're welcome there! You deer who leave the tracks of your cloven hooves upon my road when I am gone away - You're welcome there! You deer who travel through the dawn and dusk and nibble in the quiet edges of our noisy life - You're welcome there! Share with us the trees and trails. Take what you want of twilight moments and of tree-cast shadows. Eat living plants, and live yourselves. These things are not mine to give but I speak as one you knows - You are welcome to them all.
probably 1984
Jun, 1999