The Stag
        after Gerhard Richter's Stag (Hirsch), oil on canvas, 1963

I couldn't see a way out
for him the woods
too tangled those arrowing
branches pinned him in
one broad trunk weighed

him down no break
in sight no light shafting
through and what did you do
I lay still among the bodies
and how did you live

I played dead as the dead
grew cold all night
and why didn't you scream
I did scream down
in the dark I kept it locked

in my head and why
did you close your eyes
so I could see the stag instead
his head turned to me
I watched until he blurred

away into pale gray light
and why tell us this
because I've grown old because
my punishment for living
is to keep living.

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Copyright © 2019 Matthew Thorburn All rights reserved
from Cave Wall
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission