“deer… like skeletons.”
—Dorothy Wordsworth
Yes. Like skeletons this winter,
stealing silage meant for cattle
though it starves them.
They look wistful at the forest’s edge.
I want to coax them to my fire
before the wind tonight and snow,
more snow.
Some will fawn in spring if they survive.
We shall shrug off matted coats,
graze among the daffodils.
– Sarah Russell
First published in Eclectica
Sarah Russell Poetry 
Lovely poem, Sarah.
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Thank you, Judith.
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Beautiful!
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Thank you.
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I love the way you turn the mood in the last two lines.
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Thanks, Belle. I felt so bad for the deer that winter that I had to bring a little hope in at the end.
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I’m glad you did.
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“Wistful” is just the perfect word. I always find deer have a fascinating quiet about them.
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Thanks, Robert. A “fascinating quiet” is the best way to describe them. I always think it’s a blessing when I catch a glimpse of them. They have starred in at least a half dozen poems I’ve written.
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Nice description of the deer in a long winter.
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Thanks, Frank. Jack’s Cabin is between Gunnison and Crested Butte in Colorado. That winter the deer would expend so much energy just trying to get through the snow which was up to their bellies. At one point coming home in the evening, I ran into a traffic jam on our gravel road of 2 deer, a yearling elk and a snowshoe hare, all taking the “easy” way through the snow.
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oh, i so want them all to survive –
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Me too, Beth!
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Beautiful, gentle creatures…. i hope many survive.
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Yes. Thanks for stopping by, Vivian.
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😊
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What an emotionally charged poem, Sarah! Winter is so hard for all animals. At least our deer don’t have the snow to contend with.
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Thank you, Jane. No, France has a friendlier clime for wild friends.
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Nature has its ways… and we have maybe distanced ourselves from it too far… it used to be us who starved along the deer
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Indeed we did starve along with the animals, Bjorn. It frightens me sometimes that many people don’t have the connection with our food sources and the wilderness, which then can deem the unimportant, when they are vital to our existence.
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They are such beautiful creatures~ I look forward to seeing those fawns and daffodils in spring~
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I always look forward to that as well, Grace.
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Raw and poignant! I feel for the deer. Recently at a park I bike by they put a stop to the people feeding the pigeons by San Francisco Bay. People fed them for decades before this and a large group lived there all that time. Now there are signs up but I’m not seeing any starving birds (thank heavens). I do see sad birds checking in once and awhile hoping for food. It’s amazing how fast they cleared out. Winter is so hard on animals they are tough!
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Thanks, Bekkie. Like migrating birds, they’ll go to the next food source if one dries up. I think birds have more freedom than animals do who have to trudge through the snow, sometimes for miles to find food. And yes, they are tough!
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I find this so wistful. It underlines the fragility of life and the almost harsh stance we have to take in the face of natures’ ways.
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Thanks, Victoria. I am a nature documentary junkie, and I’ve heard several photographers say that the policy is to never interfere, but to let nature be nature. But it must be so hard when they see animals they have been following become prey.
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I don’t often consider the harsh reality of winter for the deer and other creatures. Beautiful piece!
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Thanks, Bryan. I was surprised when an old farmer told me that the deer try to eat hay, but their stomachs can’t metabolize it, so it offers almost no nutrition. And no foraging when the snow is very deep. Cruel winters in the mountains…
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Love the image you leave us with at the end 😊 so lovely
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Thanks so much, Zoe.
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