Poem by Stewart S. Warrren
Wildlife – February 2006 – Colorado Central Magazine
Time To Decide
You’ve been here before:
the animal runs in front of your vehicle
and no amount of dodging or dancing
changes the certainty of bumper and thud.
I went back for her,
walked the tall grass
till I found a spotted fawn
stunned, breathing
in short gulps, in rapid time
with a planet loosing its pull.
I pulled- pulled on her long ears,
fell for that soft dark nose
and cute turned up tail;
looked around for her mother,
for someone to take her back,
tell me what to do.
Just then she roused, perked up,
her feather- weight legs trying the air,
a dream of playing
in safe green shadows.
I thought to myself…she might make it.
It was just passed sunset of course,
the loud blapping of Friday night pickups
doing the turn around
from Hotchkiss to Paonia,
an occasional SUV
sealed from the inside out
and those irresistibly soft long ears.
I said, “I’m waiting here
till you decide.”
At a time like that
you’ve got all the time there is.
A few more moments passed
as is the nature of moments to do
and again, she threw her head back,
slender neck long and taut,
wide- eyed, twitching tail
and pushed through the birth canal
—maybe something pulling her
from the other side.
I looked up at the moon,
its watchful half face
without judgment or remorse,
then back again
to her golden brown,
dog- like little body
that stayed warm
in the weeds a long time
— longer than I stayed.
Stewart S. Warren
