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No hedonist am I,
Yet my conscience will not rest.
Til this story be told, at my late behest

I killed a deer yesterday
Driving past midnight on Cedar Lane
With only my own headlights to guide me,
A doe, young, fragile, free, leaping lightly into my lane, froze
In her meltingly vivacious Bambi eyes, I saw the light reflected,
As a thousand brilliant sunrises
Untouched
She did not swerve, but faced my dark vehicle
Like a Catholic martyred by a lion in the Coliseum.
With as much defense.
I braked with shallow force, surprised by her sudden appearance in my sight
And truly, curious as to what would happen, waiting for her to spring away
She did not swerve, but faced my dark vehicle,
Staring calmly into my eyes, with naught but belief
Like Caesar as he turned from Brutus.
Shock rent me as the impact jarred my senses,
The jeep slalomed over her rear first; legs flew and split askew,
Her tail shorn, and now also torn in twain.
My wheels ground quickly over her back; pausing for but a second as they trod upon the heart
And in the last moment before that clinging body received its freedom,
Staining my dark vehicle with its youthful hue,
I paused and saw the eyes, filmed over with liquid.