I am four / and the generator giving us heat has been ruined / by a quiet susurrus / of snow  / my mother leaves for help / my father’s whereabouts unknown / I venture out into the white / into the white darkness / barefoot and determined / after five minutes my toes go leather / my eyes harden and scan blankness for life / I’m almost to the neighbor’s house when a deer and her fawn / leap from the drowsing maples / to my right / I stop unsure of the danger / they stop / curiosity overriding fear / I reach out / their two bodies steaming / one cloud of life and / when our eyes meet / I feel something / close to truth / or the first edenic moments / before the fall / then in the space of exhalation / all that remains is the drifting / of snow / pin-pricked with hoofprints / a mother perplexed  / and reaching

– Josh Daniel