If You Stop

If you stop and wait and barely breathe and don’t move more than your smallest muscles (which means you don’t reach for your camera) and persuade your heart to steady its beat, the deer that startled you (the one you startled first) will stop running away through the oak forest and look slowly (very slowly) over its shoulder at you. You may see its tail flick (if you’re close enough). You may hear and then see, to the left, its companion who has also stopped. And the deer may (if you’re lucky) allow you to witness their world, offering you momentary grace, no matter who you are.