F is for Fallow Deer
Fallow Deer
.
There –
but so nearly not
like a still
from a film
.
only held
by absence
of the next
.
before I breathe
her detail
of long-legged
vigilance
.
eyes wide
with me inside
.
she completes
her design
in the air
.
Liz Brownlee
.
Fallow deer are not endemic to England and Wales (only a few exist in Scotland), but were introduced by the Normans – some people think that some were brought here even earlier by the Romans.
Exceptionally beautiful, graceful deer, a lovely tan/fawn colour (some lighter) with white spots in the summer, although some groups keep the spots all year, they are under a meter high.
These deer can multiply quite quickly and become a nuisance, coming into conflict with farmers and estate managers because of the damage they cause to crops and woodland.
There are few things as breath-taking as coming upon a deer at close-quarters unexpectedly.
Picture © ~basil~photo, Link here.
All other material © Liz Brownlee
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- Posted in: A-Z Challenge 2013
- Tagged: animals, art, British wildlife, deer, nature, poetry
lizbrownlee - poet 
Liz, there is a viewing area in the New Forest in Hampshire where you get great views of the local deer population as they feed them each afternoon close by. Sometimes there is one of the rangers there to give a talk and answer questions. One time he had some skins (sadly from road kill) to show the different colour variations. It was interesting to see at close quarters that even the dark coloured pelts had the spots.
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Beautiful, Liz! I live in New England in the US and occasionally wake up to deer munching on my mother’s garden when I’m visiting. They are beautiful, especially in their movements.
Best of luck with week two!
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they are so graceful and your poem captures one beautifully.
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This is so lovely, really evokes the feeling of the animal ~L~
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Thank you! I do like a deer, dear!
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We have many deer where I live, although I don’t know if they are the same type. Your poem captures them beautifully.
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Thank you, Melanie!
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Lovely poem, even if most of the time I see deer in our area, they are less of a pleasant surprise, than a big annoyance, sampling my garden!
Cat
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Oh dear! Did you ever read ‘The Yearling’ by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings? (I think that’s right.) I read it as a child and I have never cried so much at a book before or since! It’s about a lonely little boy in America, set in the late 1800s, I think… anyhow, his dad shoots a deer and he rescues the calf, and it eats their crops, which of course could mean starvation for them and…
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Lovely poem and picture.
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