Cervine Quick Current

 
 

Taking into account the curvature of the earth, struggling to stand, they came here first from

          transitional areas between forests and thickets,

 

From the river three of them climb early October banks in the shadow of the bridge.

 

Call it what you will, if you favor escape or panicked burst because the terms vary with dialect

          that looms over the horizon, can be seen and spans for miles, can’t ignore that one was

          bound

 

To find their way here, as if summoned to be seen as a noble creature. They appeared, to be used

          as flattering simile or metaphor when in comparison to a famous warrior, hero or chief,

          who by comparison will take on their qualities—but bound

 

This prisoner is who we are now, flattering its area with candor but caring not for this, scared and

          appeared and uninterested in working as a symbol for humans who can’t suggest

          otherwise our regret.

 

Object

Deer

Body of Water

New York Harbor

About the Artist

Carl Schlachte is yet another poet living in Brooklyn. He is an MFA candidate at Brooklyn College. Recent poems have appeared or are forthcoming in The Brooklyn Review, 1913: A Journal of Forms, and The West Wind Review.