Deer Receive the Ash

Lent arrives, and the deer fast
their own antlers. At dusk,
at dawn, they graze buds
of clover. Hollow honeycomb
dense as bone sops oxygen
and blood below the fabric skin.
But the antler is a false bone.

The deer, gentle as prayers
in the open field, drape
sackcloth across their faces,
velvet dry as ash.

Ruth Towne is a graduate of the Stonecoast MFA program. Her work has recently appeared in Inlandia Literary Journal; WOMEN. LIFE., a special issue of Beyond Words Literary Magazine; and Monsoons: A Collection of Poetry by Poet’s Choice Publishing. She has forthcoming publications with Black Spot Books, NiftyLit, and Drunk Monkeys.