Deer Fording the Missouri in Early Afternoon

Perhaps to those familiar with their ways The sight would not have been so startling: A deer fording the Missouri in the early afternoon. Perhaps they would not have worried as much As I about the fragility of it all: Her agonizingly slow pace, the tender ears And beatific face just above the water. At one point she hit upon a shoal And appeared to walk upon a mantle, The light glancing off her thin legs and black hooves. I thought she might pause for a while to rest, To gain some bearings, but instead she bound Back in, mindful I suppose Of the vulnerability of open water. When she finally reached the island And leapt into dark stands Of cottonwoods and Russian olives, I swear I almost fell down in prayer. And now I long to bear witness of such things, To tell someone in need the story Of a deer fording the Missouri in the early afternoon.