A literary magazine for quiet pieces that find their own sources of light

Poetry

Off Wilder Road

Eli Germaine
issue two.


I walk alongside two Key deer does

grazing the grasses of unmarked limestone,

golden coats strokes of refurbished paint

on the canvas of urban wood fences.

The first doe turns her head;

eyes like dark avocado stones

scrutinize my unsteady hands

lifting my smartphone for a photo.

A bird calls out in the distance

similar to the long shrieking cries of limpkins

that pick at the palm-sized apple snails

along the manmade canal outside my condo.

These does call the Gulf and the Atlantic home:

one sliver of key full of mangroves.

Heads down they dine on patches of green grass

behind the fenced-in backyard of an island resident.

I dig my knees into the dirt for a better view;

the second doe folds her doll-like legs inward,

bedding down beside me.


About the Author

Eli Germaine is an aspiring writer native to southern Florida. Her very first creative work has been published in Plants & Poetry Journal and she has also read her works publicly at art museum literary events. She partakes in confessional and nature writing in both poetry and creative nonfiction genres, delving into these personal styles to help awaken the tenderness of our natural world while also providing a voice for herself and others who have experienced trauma and live a life of disability. Despite her limitations of chronic illness, she enjoys nature trails, sketching, scrapbooking, and writing on memorable encounters.

– Eli Germaine

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