Spirit Animal

I’m a deer on top of the world

Crisp air, drifting mist below

Forever attentive and watchful

Ears perking to the slightest rustle

Agile and quick to flee.

I’m a loner tucked away

No fawns or buck by my side

Too old to be trailing behind

My aging, stooped parents

Just an observer, invisible.

I’m being pursued

An intruder to my mountain

He’s hungry, pawing the gravel

I leap and bound the slopes

Wishing for sharp antlers.

It’s dark now, I cannot sleep

The night chill feels too harsh

I feel utterly alone

I cannot cry out for fear he hears me

Is this the end?

Something in me understands 

I need to leave my mountain

Say my goodbyes in the dark

To break my invisibility 

I don’t belong here anymore.