Sarah Sadie
Deer Mother
Amid the hothouse needs and cares
blooming around me, how often
I disappear.
Erased into strawberry and sweet,
defined by flower or fruit, and therefore
invisible.
Even up close, you will not know me
until you can face abyss
and starsoak.
There’s no language yet for my nature
but antlers and choice come close.
Come close.
My nature is age beyond age.
This poem was written in response to artist Deanna Croaker’s “Adikikwe: Reindeer Woman”
Return to Motherhood’s Duality Folio
Author of five collections of poetry and winner of a Pushcart Prize, over the years Sarah Sadie has served as poetry editor, teacher, Poet Laureate of Madison, Wisconsin, and judge for various contests. Currently she grows tomatoes in buckets, makes homemade ice cream, and writes poems. She lives perched between two rivers and next door to the Baraboo Ridge and writes “An Inviting Space” on Substack.