As I walk
With eyes cast down
Pondering sorrows,
I hear a clatter
And lift my head.

A deer skitters past,
Running across the parking lot
Afraid yet seeming
To show off,
Just a little,
Before she disappears around a corner.

I keep walking,
And as I pass the corner,
I turn my head.

There she stands,
Silhouetted by a streetlamp,
In all her wild glory.

"You're beautiful,"
I murmur,
As if post-midnight words
In a language she'll never know
Will calm her heart
And bring her to me.

I take a few more strides,
Then turn again.

She still stands there,
Turning her head to follow me
As I resign myself to sleep again.

I look back once more,
Before I round my final corner.
It was only a few seconds,
But in that little time,
She silently vanished.