My canoe was gliding down a stream

Great trees were overhanging

And it was dark beneath their canopy

Protecting from the sun

I went to shore to rest for just a moment

Laid down on cool damp ground

And without intention soon did fall asleep

But dreamed I’d stayed awake

A fawn soon joined me in it’s search for food

Ate grass just feet from me

And at a distance it’s mother stood attentive

And then began to speak

Be careful fawn you’ve come upon a man

He could kill you easily

For his lunch or for your spotted coat

Men cannot be trusted

The fawn now backed away to stand at mother’s side

And sought an explanation

Why, mother, would they do that without good cause

What have we done to them

Nothing, dear sweet fawn, she said to him

Humans need no reasons

They think they are superior

Animal are here for them

They say they have a god to guide them

Love they neighbor dearly

But lower things like us are for their sport

No love thy neighbor here

But they are hypocrites in all of this

Not by their god directed

They kill even their own kind without remorse

Then claim it justified

We will have no peace on earth till they are gone

And take their god with them

Our god of nature can be curl but isn’t arbitrary

She’d give us harmony

I woke now with a start and looked around

No fawn no mother anywhere

But the message that I’d heard from them remained

And I knew that it was true

I’ve returned now to the city where I live

And what is it I see

The products mostly of our greed and lust

Where is our love of neighbor

Oh yes those deer were most insightful

Our race may not survive us

But I suspect that when we kill ourselves

All of nature we will kill as well