Today's poem is by Sage Ravenwood

Deer Woman
        (Ani Yunwitsandsdi)

Before I was born my mother dreamed
of a fawn alone in a woodland glade.
I want to know if there was a woman
ravaged nearby birthing Ani Yunwitsandsdi.
Was I Deer Woman, born without hooves?
So ugly the Yunwi Tsunsdi' little people left me
Half buried instead of dragging me below.
A small stone they kicked out of boredom.
I wanted to be her, beautiful and enticing.
A man thought child me was. He wasn't lovesick
enough to be savagely stomped or I wasn't
strong enough. Where were you Deer Woman?
Wicked enough to lure men only to be
hollowed out in the back of cars, back-alley bars,
in my bed nightly. Each stealing pieces of a myth.
Hunters butchering prey for sport.
Dancing with cloven hooves scuffing
wooden floors with outrage. Medusa arms
slithering toward the ceiling, the band's
virtuoso channeling Ani Yunwitsandsdi.
Look down at my feet break the spell.
Glue your eyes to my chest so you won't
see my mouth devouring a scream.
Cinderella's lost shoe wasn't a deer hoof.
Deer Woman swaying to a drumbeat
I no longer hear. Silent waves
crashing against skin, my anger
storm brewed over a lake. Tell me
more about the angry native. The deer
always show up, they're always watching.
Little girl with nubs in her forehead
sprouting antlers. The stories couldn't
save her. She became the deer.

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Copyright © 2024 Sage Ravenwood All rights reserved
from Shō Poetry Journal
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission