Three Deer in Oquossoc

By Sonja Johanson

East will take me back. I drive

west. I wend between snowbanks,

until the road delivers me

to a sleeping boat launch.

They stand on the frozen ramp;

watch me with coats that are

better than mine. Ice houses

and snowmobiles edge the distance.

I have to turn around, I say

to them, I went the wrong

way. They stamp and chuff.

No, they tell me, this is the way.

Copyright Credit: Poem copyright ©2015 by Sonja Johanson, "Three Deer in Oquossoc," from Plum Tree Tavern, (2015). Poem reprinted by permission of Sonja Johanson and the publisher.