The Deer Park

Suzanne Morris

December 17, 2023

–for Frank, and

  in memory of Peggy

There is a tender story,

believed to be true,

that took place in

the Deer Park

at Magdalen College,

Oxford University

shortly before the

time of Queen Victoria.

A College Fellow tumbled

from a window

in a nearby building

and died.

Next morning, when

his body was found,

the gentle deer were

standing in a circle around it

keeping watch.

This morning on the way to

Nacogdoches,

I drove past a dead deer–

young and gangly– 

its body draped across

the esplanade 

like a sacrifice upon the altar,

motorists speeding by 

on both sides.

I slowed down instinctively,

feeling regret as I always do

when I see some hapless roadkill;

then sped on, forgetting the incident

until this evening

when I happened to read

the tender story

that unfolded in the

Deer Park at Oxford

shortly before the

time of Queen Victoria

the deer paying respect

to the dead man’s body

keeping vigil

through the night.

                                                        --After the account of Portia Bomar,

                                                        an American student at Oxford,

                                                        1923 – 1924

Suzanne Morris’ poems have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies.  She makes her home in Cherokee County, Texas.