HERALDIC MOMENT

Down the old track
as ancient as the hills themselves
-footpath, bridleway, drovers lane
then cobbled driveway,
returned to wiggly sheep trail
frequented by badger, hare and fox….
….when, today, Aha!
Like a heraldic creature out of myth
under the witchy shade of alder and ash,
frozen in instant surprise
stood a large roe deer, frescoed sere
against the woodlands behind.
In a heart-stopping moment
wild and out of time
we met;
then it leapt up and turned,
in a pogo-stick bounce
and fled across the meadow,
high over the tumbling brook
and vanished through the trees.

The stillness rang.
My eyes blinked.
Then I followed its dainty hoof-prints
clear in the long, wet grass
half dazed,
as if I had met a griffin or unicorn there
wondering from where and how
it had come and gone
despite gate, wire and fence
fleet and silent, on the edges of the air.