Reindeer/Epiphany poem--for my Grandson Robby

(Rein) Deer Epiphany

                                                (a poem for Robby Kleppel)

In the little remnant woods behind my daughter’s house,

A buck deer appears in the deep snow, eating the brambles or small trees

In this hungry winter.

Twenty feet behind, a doe reclines in the snow,

Munching on twigs.

I say, “Look at the deer, Robby!”

My grandson Robby, just turned four, sees them.

He says, “They’re reindeer. They’re Santa’s.”

Then he adds, as simply and straightforwardly as

One plus one equals two—

“They can fly.”

I don’t know what to say next.

Then something startles the deer,

And they’re up, just like that, and

Flying over the neighbor’s five-feet tall fence.

                                    Bob Coughlin

                                    Feast of the Epiphany, 2018

Note: The word “epiphany” can mean “manifestation; sudden appearance; sudden insight.”