The Encounter Poem by Francis Poole

The boy walks
to the edge of the woods
and stands there thinking,
What is going on in there?
over and over again
as in meditation
until a large Buck
with full antler crown
steps out and faces him.
Enchantment and fear
fill the boy's heart.
The Buck walks over to
the boy, lifts his nose
and sniffs him.
Then the boy reaches out
to touch the Buck
but it turns away,
walks back into the woods
and disappears.
That evening the boy
lies in bed
thinking about how
the Buck seemed to be
both curious
and dismissive of him.
He thought about that meeting
often and for the rest of his life.
It was just one of many times
he would feel like he was being treated
the same way.