Synkroniciti is happy to welcome back poet D.R. James who won our “Ritual” contest in 2022. Two nature poems featuring deer appear in “Wild”: “Same Old Same Old” and “Snow Day.” In “Same Old Same Old,” we stand at the window watching teenage deer at dusk, marveling at their camouflage and their awareness of and unease with their observers. Filled with wonder and reverence, D. R. invites us into the wildlife watching club, forecasting our good intentions and speaking to our most respectful selves. “I’m showing you nothing you don’t know, and know you also know that doesn’t matter, that you, too, would stop, lift your face, and love them every time.” “Snow Day” is a humorous poem expressing gratitude for a winter snow day. Seeing the trails that the young deer have left in the snow looking for the feed left for them provides a welcome distraction from Television and the immaturity of modern American politics. “It’s only a break from that other nagging reality, for we know it won’t last, that the road crews have been out all night and that this stint likely won’t go beyond a mid-morning delay.” How often does human nonsense and posturing take us away from nature and wonder? D.R.’s quiet observance calls us to change our priorities.
Order your copy of “Wild” to experience D.R.’s enlightening poetry: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
Recently retired from nearly 45 years of teaching college writing, literature, and peace studies, D. R. James lives, writes, vegges, and cycles with his psychotherapist wife in the woods near Saugatuck, Michigan.
His latest of ten collections are Mobius Trip and Flip Requiem (Dos Madres Press, 2021, 2020), and his prose and poems have appeared in a wide variety of print and online anthologies and journals.