at four in the morning kennedy road’s quiet. i drive along it often at that time and rarely see another vehicle. i often run across deer, have to be careful in fact not to run over deer at that time.
there was a thick fog this morning, more than an early morning mist. there was more than a hint of daylight and, as i took the first or second bend in the road, there was a deer. it leaped off the road, over some low bushes into the field and stopped. i stopped as well, even backed my truck up a few feet and lowered the window. she began to move away: cautious, suspicious. but soon after i turned the music up, paul simon’s ‘graceland’, she moved a little bit back: still cautious and suspicious, but also curious.
there was something in the music that kept the creature transfixed, engaged. there was something in the music that made her relax, attentive. and we shared those moments together listening to an african beat, a world-music experience. she was watching me carefully, ears up, still, until i actually saw her head begin to subtly move in time with the rhythm. it was almost imperceptible, may even have been the result of an over-active imagination. however, i definitely felt the hair go up at the back of my neck.
once the music changed, she slowly began to move back through the field, away, until eventually she broke into a slow trot: unconcerned, elegant, as though she had diamonds on the souls of her feet.