the deer are cruel

now that the decision is made

the deer are cruel

to come each day parading

in my yard, nibbling my grass

and treating on the lettuce

and carrots i set out

bobcat stays hidden

but i remember his kitten stage

and the cougar i stepped onto

my back porch and greeted

as startled as he was

though he merely lifted his chin

in haughty pride when i murmured

how handsome he was

i will love the view from

my new apartment but expect

few wild creatures to greet me

on my seventh-floor balcony

country dweller

“Weren’t you afraid?”

the city man asked

i squinted, trying to remember

”No, not afraid. Awed.

I smiled and whispered

to him, ‘You are beautiful,’

and the bobcat, not twenty

feet from me, preened. He

knew I was an admirer, not

an enemy.”

not the first or last time

i’ve seen a wild creature

eye-to-eye