POETRY
The Stranded Stag
Meditations on Fear 1 • the fear of my fear

I am Stag Stranded at the lake edge Of my possibilities There is no shelter In the woods now Just the telegraphed howl Of the hounds That come for me
I have run and run With burning lung And briar torn flesh Until I crashed against The limit of my land And this grave of water
The dogs are closer now Each whisper from the ferns Electrifies me My body and the woods Hiss in richochet I am alive To the fragments In the air Everything firing And rising in me Yet I cannot move
I shall be ripped apart Not by dog or water But by the needle teeth Of my own terror
This is part 1 of a series of 5 poems about fear. Each poem can be read individually or as part of the series. You can see the series here (with the link updated as each piece is published). Thank you for reading!
A shout out to Steve Doom for his wonderful poem Toll Road — it’s an atmospheric piece, with a strong sense of place and of melancholy. Definitely worth a read
