The Fawn
(A poem by Sal Godoij.)
She and I, in the season of discovery
Weary of our parents’ rule
We eloped
We thought the future too slow, and so
We went on a quest for its glow
A starry night found us camping
In a clearing in a forest
Glued together as much by love as by fear
In the night’s deep drear
Like a spirit from the forest
A white-tailed fawn drew near
And stopped there as if it struggled to decipher
Our lovers’ code
Our tormented minds took its presence for an omen
And when we moved, the fawn
Rustled into the bloom, removed
Dipped deep into the gloom
We sat there wrapped by the starry night
Look! She exclaimed
Her finger signalled a point in the celestial vastness
A shooting star was crossing the immensity, a stone in flames
A stone in flames! And I thought of my heart.
And then, from a celestial nest, a hungry red-winged bird flew
Toward the night and gobbled up the stars one by one
Gobbled up darkness
And gobbled up us, too
Oh! It’s all past now.
How long ago did it happen? How long?
She and I, then not yet strong
Glued together as much by love as by fear
Ready to get it wrong
What was it that prompted us to become sensible
Was it the fawn?
What was it that devoured our love
Was it the dawn?
Whatever it was, is it sorrow that I feel now? Is it anger?
I don’t know. I only know we were there.
And the spell! I swear the spell was there
But it’s all gone now, all in the past
She and I in a clearing in the forest
Past the embrace and the fawn
Past the shooting star and the hungry dawn.
