I
She walks the forest
on silent hooves that
leave no trace,
her coat a weave
of moss and ferns

Her horns drape vines,
her path coated
with new-growth green

Darkness is cut through
by her pure presence
as she bounds ethereally
between fresh-green saplings

Untarnished, she lives beside
the dirty scar of a city
naive to the encroaching pollutant

II
Ash coats his blackened legs,
a specter-dark scar
of long-forgotten dreams

Smoke fills his lungs and mind
while the blinding lights
of progress creep closer
on mechanical treads

Around him his forest burns,
his shadow rippling wildly
against the shattered remains
of a once-fertile nurturer

He stops by the body
of his dead past,
proud horns cracking with strain
as he salutes the fallen

Progress draws ever closer
and he retreats through
the stink of burned existence

III
It stands atop a cliff
the wind carrying the scent
of urbanization to
its bone-white head

Its deathly smile mocks even
as it bleeds for the spirits
stranded in this world
of empty rock and biting winds

It never tires,
only walks on with shattered hooves,
flanks weeping from
bulldozer wounds

White antlers reflect the light
of an unflinching moon
as the scar of loss
strides on through the memory
of a once-proud forest