Woodland Sequence —Byron Hoot 1 I thought I saw a deer where one had appeared before, the ghost of that moment still present. 2 The raucous harmony of caw caw disturbed everything. 3 If you have not been in the woods when sunlight strikes frosted leaves, no one can tell you what you've missed. 4 A deer stands still until it moves; how long means nothing. 5 Look into the sun and tell me the virtue of light. 6 In hunting, things have to be a certain way and you have to be ready; the same is true when you're not hunting. 7 One doe, two bucks, five turkeys. When they showed, where they were, how they didn't see me -- I've taken it in. 8 The fallen leaf moved across the ground then stopped as the breeze continued. 9 The falling leaves fool me; I smile, listen again. 10 Nearly all the leaves are down; you'd think I'd hear better than I do. 11 The bed of love is the holy of holies-- we've always known that.
In these short, breathtaking stanzas, Hoot sets up echoes of Wallace Stevens’ classic “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” — which this resembles in its mind-bends.