My poem “Beyond Darkness” is included in Cirque #27 which just came out in May 2024. This poem is based on an experience I had walking just after sunset in Cape George where we live. At the entrance to our village is a fire station which is no long staffed regularly. It is the highest point since the village slopes down toward the sea. Darkness had fallen more quickly than I had expected and the shapes around me were dim and shadowy. Suddenly I saw a group of deer approaching. They didn’t seem aware of me and certainly didn’t seem to find that I was there. The whole scene was surreal. A fawn passed so close I could have reached out and touched her. I almost felt like we did touch in some way. The poem describes this experience. I wrote the poem to capture and preserve the moment and also to explore it and its implications for my life.