At night sometimes
I go to the pond
which is a perfect circle
and as soon as I arrive
the gazelle is there too
standing directly
across the water
and as soon as I take
a step towards it
it takes a step away
and when I run
it echoes my run
and when I stop
it also stops
such that
the two of us never
get any closer
or further from
each other we
are just balanced
there two shapes
in starlight so
I don’t run anymore
when I visit the pond
I just sit down
in the crisp grass
and if I wait
like that
for a while then
the gazelle messes
up its long legs and
sits down too
which is a fine
feeling being
at ease together never
having known each
other’s fur
_____________
Mikko Harvey is the author of Let the World Have You (House of Anansi, 2022) and Unstable Neighbourhood Rabbit (House of Anansi, 2018). His poems appear in places such as The Kenyon Review, The Poetry Review, and The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2019. He currently lives in Western Massachusetts.