The Day After Halloween

                Pahn has seen two deer
                         bounding into the woods
 
       down by his friend’s house
and has followed them                      
into the damp dead grasses
              and blackberry hummocks

Pahn has dreamed recently
                        of the deer in the foothills...walking
                     through the Fescue...among
                            the broken oaks
the leaves falling                                                                          

The day after Halloween
 the deer are grazing
              in Pahn’s neighborhood
 
                 on concrete
asphalt
wandering with resignation
through humanity
                         the children
running with them in a herd
                                                     jumping over fences
          eating the lawns
 
                Pahn walks over to separate
                                       Daphnis and Eeunks from the flock
 as he did                                
                    when he brought them home
taking them to the word of drywall
He tells them                                                             
the deer are still wild
            and dangerous to kids

He sits down                                                          
with other parents
commenting
                                     that more people are hurt each year
by deer                  
than by bear
 He regrets                                                      
that he has not raised them
in the wilderness
coated in pine needles                
not knowing of
                      toy stores
                   bubble gum
                          motorbikes
             soda
             television

…

Reclining

                             pressed against Aiks
Pahn wants to be inside her
all of the time
                         though he might only appease his body
occasionally
       he would be entangled with her
permanently...

…He is living in the world of people
    looking into their lives
alternately
exploring               
and shunning

He sits at a white                     
round table
next to Eeantha for whom
he cares
                 and
                                in whom he trusts
and Mehlia whose body he craves
whose light humor
and smiling face
                     he has thought might go
                            with a troubled mind

She hands him her box
which he examines
trying to understand its purpose
He is led to believe it is                                                  
for burning wood
He looks for the hole     to put in fuel
 but one shouldn’t light a fire
in a wooden box

And he looks closer                    
                                    because he is interested in her puzzle

Touching
                                      putting his fingers in the slots
she opens suddenly              
filled with paper
and hotdogs

Digging deeper
Pahn finds she has a plant                                     
among the shredded news

which he knows is intended
                                                     for the succulent bowl

of Aiks

.

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