Saying so Much without Words

Deer stand statuesque in conversation with onlooker

Speaking without Words

The dog was walking me at dusk when she first spied one deer moving slowly away in the woods...and then another and another, more than 8 or so...save one that stayed behind and stood there a statue without words deep in conversation with us. She felt no need whatsoever to catch up with the others, her curiosity holding her in place while preferring our company. 

It reminded me of the poem by Mary Oliver, Pulitzer Prize Winner. It's called, "The Place I want to get back to," and the title serves as the first line for the poem.   Enjoy it for the day! 




The Place I Want to Get Back To
is where
in the pinewoods
in the moments between
the darkness
and first light
two deer
came walking down the hill
and when they saw me
they said to each other, okay,
this one is okay,
let's see who she is
and why she is sitting
on the ground , like that,
so quiet, as if
asleep, or in a dream,
but, anyway, harmless;
and so they came
on their slender legs
and gazed upon me
not unlike the way
I go out to the dunes and look
and look and look
into the faces of the flowers;
and then one of them leaned forward

and nuzzled my hand, and what can my life
bring to me that could exceed
that brief moment?
For twenty years

I have gone every day to the same woods,
not waiting, exactly, just lingering.
Such gifts, bestowed,
can't be repeated.

If you want to talk about this
come to visit. I live in the house
near the corner, which I have named
Gratitude.