near the end of the day
as I walked in the woods
now fragrant
after the rains

I startled two bucks
and they startled me.
They stood face to face
among the juniper and oak

One moved to my left,
the other to my right,
and I spoke kindly to them
as I passed.

They had grand antlers
and muscular forelegs
Two fierce big dudes
And one small human

and I don’t know why we were together
and why that made me sad.
Perhaps their wildness subdued
by the narrow greenbelt they inhabit.

I walked from the woods
into the neighborhood
cars whizzing by
and my heart felt large
outside of my ribs

then they came in one wave, and another
dozens and dozens of gulls
intent in flight
west-north-west over Austin suburbia
their white wings
catching the lowering light

They were silent and purposeful.

They were beautiful with light
wings beating toward sunset.

And I walked on to the store,
and when I emerged, bags in hand,
the sky was ribboned in rose,
big and open
like an expansion of my heart.

The deer are not mine but I share their space.
The gulls are not mine but they bring me pleasure.
The sky is not mine, but holds my heart too big for me to carry.