Two Alone

I wait in the fading light
    faint breeze, restive leaves
    fallen and brown.
He will come
    I tell myself
    and then - Please -
    to no one there.
But it is cold dusk now
    and I shiver,
    coat pulled tight,
Alone.

A doe steps from the shadows
    deep within the scrub
    behind the barn.
She limps
    a front leg broken, twisted,
    seeking acorns on the ground.
Seeing me, she pauses
    not afraid, cautious,
    questioning.

Our eyes meet
    and know.

She moves on,
    feeding from the earth,
Alone.

The barn still looms dark and empty,
    and I stand
    to go.

             by Ansley B. Carter