Close Encounter Poem by Laurence Overmire

When you see her standing
There, alone
By the side of the road

When you pull up
Slowly, so as not to
Disturb

She doesn't run away
She just looks at you
Right in the eye

Five feet away…

No fear
Almost inquisitively
Asking…?

Something is wrong
The world is out of joint
When what was wild

Becomes tame
Unaware of the danger
A lost innocence

This beautiful deer…

How can she survive?
When the next car
Might not be so friendly

And its driver more careless
Indifferent to the speed
With which accidents

Happen
And broken hearts
Line the road.

~ Laurence Overmire