Along the Temperance River
Ice melt, rage
of spring and
brown branch,
crimson leaf,
hoof and flank,
one dark eye
caught
in the caldron
bobs, turns
in the foaming spume.
I tell myself this too
is beautiful
and horrified
shut my eyes
pray for a hard rain
to raise the water,
release the deer
from its icy purgatory,
send it down
through the gorge
to where the river
widens, slows,
delivers it
into the Great Lake.
—Gillian Nevers
