DOE TRAIL LANE

Down in the meadow
the crack of the day
is marked at meeting
by the sound of shooting,
down at the end of Doe Trail Lane.

Counting Lane by Lane
cleanly laid out...
Pinto, Polo, Possum,
house by house to the lake,
tall thin saplings fling up
their fretwork and veining,
simply ending up there
in the grey flesh of heaven,
down at the end of Doe Trail Lane.

Down in the meadow
the crack of the day
is marked at meeting
by the sound of shooting,
down at then end of Doe Trail Lane.

Being warm inside this cabin
and knowing, that come dark,
I will be able to nestle myself
with blankets, and lay me down to sleep,
I look at the stars on the covering
my mama sewed for me...
and, hearing a shot,
I look through the window.
I ask for clean release
for the hunted; for the hunter,
down at the end of Doe Trail Lane.

--Barbara Smith Stoff