If you hope to see a deer in
wet, leafless woods, do not look
for deer within the woods.
Gaze at the brown and grey
expanse filled with shadows.
Remain quiet, calm, and still.
Absorb the silence, embrace
a moment without time, breathe
slowly, deeply, peacefully.
A dab of brown or grey will
shift when she turns her head
to look at you if she is there.
Recent work by Raymond Byrnes has been read on The Writer's Almanac and published in Third Wednesday, Shot Glass Journal, Better Than Starbucks, Misfits, Typishly, Split Rock Review, and numerous other journals. For many years, after leaving a tenured position teaching college English in the Midwest, he managed communications for the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Land Imaging Program. He lives in Virginia.