Tonight, at dusk

the valley between here

and there filled up with

hundreds of deer

as if the wind

carried them all here—

deer behind fences,

on hillsides, in herds.

And we, on the highway

between them

and ourselves,

did not see nor hit one

among this encampment

laying siege

to the valley—I did not

know there were so many

deer in the world. Even

after, my head spins

with deer when

I close my eyes, and

for once, I wasn’t tight-

knuckling the wheel

in hopes that

I wouldn’t hit one—

my wife at the wheel,

our third child

in her belly, and all

I can think is how

cold the mountains,

how fertile the valley,

how fertile the deer,

how fertile my wife,

how fertile my life.