Sometimes if
She Enters

A poem by Ann Iverson

The perimeter of fear
as a doe at dusk
crossing the ragged border
of birch and swamp
into the human clearing
where instead she finds
slices of apple or banana
and a woman in a window
softly cooing a made-up name,
quietly planning a different life,
looking eye to eye, the invincibility
of what lurks beyond and calls.
And never disappoints.
If only she could cross the border
And she has.

Ann Iverson Ann writes:
This poem isn’t so much about boundaries but about the parallels of creature and human. For one entire summer, many nights when I would sit down to my desk, this doe appeared at my window. She did not just “appear” but she committed herself to the moment. I sang to her and she tilted her ears. It’s been over a year since I’ve seen her last. This poem is meant to thank her for the friendship she provided me in a very lonely time of my life.

Ann Iverson is the author of Come Now to the Window published by the Laurel Poetry Collective in August of 2003. Her poetry has been featured on Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor. Her work has also appeared or is forthcoming in Water~Stone, 2000 and 2001; Margie: The American Journal of Poetry; Ache Magazine; Chronicle Alternative; Laurel Poetry Collective Anthology; Miller's Pond; The Oklahoma Review (http://www.cameron.edu/okreview), Talking Stick, and more. A poet who enjoys experimenting in the visual arts, Ann is interested in the visceral connection between the poetic and visual image. A sampling of her art work can be viewed at www.threecandles.org under the link to Deborah Keenan's collected work. Ann has taught at The Loft and currently is the Director of Arts and Sciences at Dunwoody College of Technology, Minneapolis, MN. Ann can be reached via email at: aiverson@dunwoody.edu.

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Sometimes if She Enters

Sometimes if
She Enters