A Daily Dose of Deers

Dear Readers,

Recently, I have noticed so many deers getting together near my house: trotting away as we enter the driveway or staring at us in the middle of the road. I really enjoyed observing them every day as I left for school in the morning and arrived home in the afternoon, which inspired me to write a poem about it! Here it is:

A Daily Dose of Family

I always thought humans

Loved the most

But then I realized

How I’ve constantly observed countless families of animals

Exhibiting mesmerizing care for each other I’ve never seen before

Whether it be raccoons of the night, squirrels of the day, mother birds scavenging for their babies,

or my favorites: camouflaged deers constantly patrolling my home

Guardians of the house

The way they pose next to each other

At the front gate

As if they’re saying they’re ready

But do they know what a camera is?

When they look me in the eye and start to trot in my direction

Everything stays still

The breeze, the chirping of the birds

Now I can’t even hear their footsteps—

Stealth is their friend.

But not mine

As we inch our way through the driveway

I can’t help but admire their beauty,

Their innocence although they resemble nothing like a dove

Engrossed in their own worlds, they munch

Eat the dead grass in our backyard we never appreciated

But they see the beauty

The first few days they would scurry

As the car door opened

But yesterday— a miracle

They paused and looked at me as I swiftly exited the car

And went on to munching: in synch like a perfectly orchestrated symphony of adults and children, deers instead

But what I despise are the remains

Of the parents making a feast for their children, that cost me my flowers

But it seems they feel regret

As I notice my new batch is still intact

And the next day I observe small imprints— and a baby deer jumps from the bushes

How tiny!

I didn’t realize how beautiful their brown fur and stubble antlers could be.

What amazes me the most is the way the mother stands tall to protect

And the father always accompanies,

Watching them every day has taught me something new

One day it’s the comfort of protection,

Another the art of posing, and another is the adorable babies

But most importantly,

I want to see family through the lens of a deer

A book or lecture or video couldn’t do it justice

I want my family of deers who live in the moment

And that’s what I’ll strive for.

Deers taught me family

And that’s what they will now see

As they stand in front of our house

Guarding our pure love.

Here is a picture I took when there were many more deers than normal:

Hope you enjoyed reading my poem!

~Golden Ink