Poem II from ‘Grande Ronde Suite’
Written by O. Alan Weltzien

A whitetail deer strokes

across the current, west to east,

only meters in front of the raft

Her dark eyes and nimble legs

register an audience, possible prey,

as she scrambles between short gray scarps

The first route a mistake

when she tips backward, spine to sky,

yet lands on her feet, a cat;

As the raft draws abreast, a frisson of fear

ripples her muscles on a second

chute of soil between rock

And she gains altitude and safety,

a more composed liquid trot

while I silently applaud, downriver

This work was featured in issue #2