| Stendhal's Mirror By M.V. Montgomery |
the white tails of two deer
cross the dirt road
one just a fawn,
the other its mother
_____
the fawn hides its neck
in the bush
the doe stands in profile,
not moving until I pass
_____
the Chinese thought deer
signaled the nearby presence
of immortals
_____
as I enter the subdivision,
noise of a Bobcat engine
_____
the sound loud enough
to scare into silence
the schipperke
that generally barks
as it guards
its yard
_____
from down the street,
shouts of Hispanic landscapers
become more melodic
_____
preschoolers playing in a garage
their intensity suggests
they’ve been up
for hours
_____
sugar maples and oaks,
leaves so green
they appear plastic
magnolia and hydrangea blooms
overripe in august
_____
odor I mistake for fertilizer
coming from the corner
then that cliché:
unmistakable smell of death
_____
a snug white sheet
held down by cinder blocks,
covering the remains
of a very large animal
miasma of gnats circling overhead
_____
buzzing of cicadas in the trees,
now, with the noise of morning traffic,
just about reaching a standoff
_____
garbage truck speeding
along its route, customers
many houses apart
_____
For Sale signs listing
commercial contacts
or financial companies
foreclosures,
hidden tragedies
_____
butterfly the color of coneflowers,
discovering an exotic species
of like purple
to hide in
_____
city vehicle passing
on wrong side of the road
from a porch somewhere
an adult baritone
reassuring a child,
It’s probably here for the deer
_____
the driver complaining to me,
One a yer neighbors
must a been drivin pretty fast
to hit a dang deer
I tell him I’ve seen mother and fawn
earlier this day, point to where
_____
he spits in consternation,
repeats his observation
_____
old man from down the block
bounding proudly uphill
with his wife
he points to the hollow and remarks,
They come up out of there
all the time!”
_____
if I stay any longer with these others,
I know I will have trouble
seeing things as they are
_____
famous definition of a novel:
a mirror walking along the road
_____
had I not seen the doe and fawn,
many ill omens today
had I not seen the dead deer,
perhaps only a pleasant ramble.
cross the dirt road
one just a fawn,
the other its mother
_____
the fawn hides its neck
in the bush
the doe stands in profile,
not moving until I pass
_____
the Chinese thought deer
signaled the nearby presence
of immortals
_____
as I enter the subdivision,
noise of a Bobcat engine
_____
the sound loud enough
to scare into silence
the schipperke
that generally barks
as it guards
its yard
_____
from down the street,
shouts of Hispanic landscapers
become more melodic
_____
preschoolers playing in a garage
their intensity suggests
they’ve been up
for hours
_____
sugar maples and oaks,
leaves so green
they appear plastic
magnolia and hydrangea blooms
overripe in august
_____
odor I mistake for fertilizer
coming from the corner
then that cliché:
unmistakable smell of death
_____
a snug white sheet
held down by cinder blocks,
covering the remains
of a very large animal
miasma of gnats circling overhead
_____
buzzing of cicadas in the trees,
now, with the noise of morning traffic,
just about reaching a standoff
_____
garbage truck speeding
along its route, customers
many houses apart
_____
For Sale signs listing
commercial contacts
or financial companies
foreclosures,
hidden tragedies
_____
butterfly the color of coneflowers,
discovering an exotic species
of like purple
to hide in
_____
city vehicle passing
on wrong side of the road
from a porch somewhere
an adult baritone
reassuring a child,
It’s probably here for the deer
_____
the driver complaining to me,
One a yer neighbors
must a been drivin pretty fast
to hit a dang deer
I tell him I’ve seen mother and fawn
earlier this day, point to where
_____
he spits in consternation,
repeats his observation
_____
old man from down the block
bounding proudly uphill
with his wife
he points to the hollow and remarks,
They come up out of there
all the time!”
_____
if I stay any longer with these others,
I know I will have trouble
seeing things as they are
_____
famous definition of a novel:
a mirror walking along the road
_____
had I not seen the doe and fawn,
many ill omens today
had I not seen the dead deer,
perhaps only a pleasant ramble.
| Contributor's Bio |
M.V. Montgomery is a professor at Life University in Atlanta. He has poetry forthcoming in Babel Fruit,
Words-Myth, Dream People, online whispers and [Shouts], and Bird's-Eye ReView. He is currently
working on his first poetry collection, Strange Conveyances.
Words-Myth, Dream People, online whispers and [Shouts], and Bird's-Eye ReView. He is currently
working on his first poetry collection, Strange Conveyances.
| The Honey Land Review Fall 2008 Volume 1, Issue 1 |
Photo By Cristina Ebel
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Unauthorized use of graphics or literary material is strictly prohibited.