Part Of The Herd - A Poem of my Homeless Life.

I was going to try shopping this poem for publication, but the best markets to send it to are either closed or dead now... sigh...

But here it is for you to enjoy! 


Headin' uphill, head hung low
passing the tilted gravestones.
I noted the motions beyond fence,
as friends came out,
providing me some needed support.

Lost count at eighty-seven head.
Deer standing quietly there,
as I passed by to camp,
feeling a bit down.
Until several moved cautiously closer.

Silence along that busy road
as I passed by.
Only my own soft whispers,
"Hey fellas, hi ladies",
broke that still evening somewhat.

They watched as I walked
staggering a bit occasionally,
seeking refuge for the night,
when they would graze
on that lush green lawn.

Last I passed was Buck,
the biggest male there,
who paralleled my unsteady path
tossing his head away
as he matched my stride.

It gave my spirits juice,
let my steps quicken,
straightened the path I took
rest of the way
up that hill Friday Night.

Saturday morn, well before dawn,
something approached my camp.
A familiar pawing of ground,
followed by the unexpected.
A tug on my tarp.

There stood Buck, looking down.
He backed out slow,
started back downhill to town.
Stopping, gazing back steady.
So I packed up quietly.

While leaving, he surprised me.
Buck didn't step in,
taking my place as before.
He followed me down.
Hell, he led the way.

And upon reaching the cemetery,
he leapt back in
where the does and young
waited in a row,
tossing his head to me.

"Get on in here, pal!
You're one of us,
living in those hills now.
You made the cut,
becoming Part of the Herd."

Or so he seem'd to say.
2April2013 - Dyfedd Rex