Those That are Deer
Leave a commentNovember 28, 2025 by The Citron Review
by Julie Esther Fisher
When you lay your cheek on the pillow next to mine
had you begun to change
Beneath the cover
I felt among our twined ankles
a whisper of keratin
bigger than your toenail
Your large ears splayed on the pillow
your pooled eyes, a soft snout
Close in the breathing air, we slept
A dignified night-tempo of limbs
Outside, water carries your words
a visiting deer, your tongue
Inside, a bedroom door half open
Ajars of longing
Old love
Julie Esther Fisher’s poems and stories appear or are forthcoming in Waxwing, Alaska Quarterly Review, Sheila-Na-Gig, Chicago Quarterly Review, Radar Poetry, Tahoma Literary Review, Passager’s 2025 Contest Issue, and elsewhere. Grand Prize Recipient of the Stories That Need to be Told Anthology, and Sunspot Lit’s Rigel Award, she has received multiple Best of the Net and Pushcart nominations. Forthcoming are a poetry chapbook, and a novel in stories from Silent Clamor Press.
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