Buck Stopped Here

A ruddy young buck stopped to munch lilies
and white blossoms of oak leaf hydrangeas
he was deliberate and discerning,
his pleasure in what he ate evident

he paused to look at me, I looked at him
and seemed to pass the inspection so then 
he went back to work, to his joy, not pressed,
immersed in this salad that he’s discovered

the brown head that sli…