May 2017
‍
"Venison"
‍
It is hunting season
in Jersey today.

They say
“There are too many deer
in Jersey today.”

I wake up at eleven,
to the sound of nothing,
and then to a crack in my backyard.
‍
Outside, I see
at the edge of the wood
a weak fawn wearing holes
and a man in orange, in the ferns.

He stares at me,
but we both know:
“There are too many deer
in Jersey today.”

By the afternoon,
there is a stormcloud in the distance,
— The heat could never have lasted  —
and twenty pounds of venison
portioned for the month
sitting on my doorstep.