John Vanderslice

Forest Knolls

John Vanderslice


We were unprepared
By rights we should have been aware
With bow and flint and arrow
There were three deer outside the window

My father's father would've known
How to pull that wire and steady the bow
Send that arrow into her beating heart
How to cut her and use every part

We've got food for weeks and weeks
And all that blood would find its way to the carpet
Sitting there I couldn't shake that guilt
As the deer walked free up the hill