Death by Accident
There was a movement of leaves
and someone said,
it is a deer,
and another fired. There was a hollow moan
as though someone were clutching at the sand
and the sand gave way.
We had killed a man.
He was on his back looking at the sun.
He didn’t look away.
Why did we go out there anyway?
What did we intend to kill?
Death comes with a glance,
neither kind nor unkind, but irretrievable.