"The Church of the Reindeer"

In honor of National Poetry Month, I am posting work by myself each Friday. This piece is about an encounter with the natural world that goes beyond nature...an encounter that is enigmatic, transcendent. 

The Church of the Reindeer

In a white clearing at the bottom of a hill three men
stand in a row, each wearing a hat:
a turban of fur, a crown of wood, a crown of ice.

Supplicants, officiants, the surrounding fir trees
bend, brighten, settle under gathering snow.
If the gloaming could talk it would say,
“I take this form because it pleases me.”

For those who have died in a dream, you are welcome.
For those who can feel their heart beats, you are welcome here.
For those who hear music where there is none, you are most welcome.
Keep your eyes wide open, but be still, frozen to the ground.
In this clearing the air is even colder, effervescent,
a rustle behind a branch, a visible cloud of hot breath,
it is manifest before you, flanks, muzzle, tail, fur,
topped with velvet antlers and boughs of pine.
It says, “I take this form because it pleases me.”

It ambles past, gently brushes each one with a tine.
It disappears at the deckled edge of this forest dream,
all this held in your mind just for a moment.

©JEF 2024