Is this a poem?
I’m not sure.
But this is what happened
just as I was wondering
whether I have a life….
Taking the long walk this evening
we turned left at the intersection
and headed downhill around a curve.
The narrow road stretches between houses
silent with stately lawns that lounge
before, around and behind them—
beautifully landscaped and green.
Well-kept trees rustle in cool downdrafts
from the sky overcast and heavy with
misty air and the still-warm remains of this day.
We come up over a slight rise
and see her—a doe standing downhill
frozen at full attention on the road–
tentative and alert as if to inquire
after our intentions or take our measure.
Behind us, a car approaches in the distance.
In a flash the doe bounds into the bushes
turns and looks back across the road–
waiting.
A second doe leaps across the road,
then turns to look back expectantly.
After a long pause a fawn stumbles noisily
across the road followed by a second fawn
and then silence as the little family dashes
into the trees and shrubs with their
white tails flashing….
I’m pretty sure I have a life.
It’s just that many days it isn’t as planned.
Predictability has flown into the woods
and left me playing life by ear.
©Elouise Renich Fraser, 19 September 2017
Response to WordPress Daily Prompt: Tentative
Telling the Truth 