(for Cathy Tkach on our
Port Townsend, WA, walk)

Here in the Pacific Northwest
the locals don’t blink at
hooved ones lying on lawns
or walking up the wrong side
of the road by the beach.

But we flatlanders from
California are mesmerized
by these cud-chewing plant
eaters, especially this mama
with her fawn ambling along—

each of us pausing to check
out the other species,
four females heading
the same direction on
an afternoon walk—

two of us keeping watch
on the other pair as they
cross the two-lane road,
all of us pedestrians
stopping traffic before
heading off in the direction
we need to go.