Lovely piece of writing. The opening images were striking - I particularly loved the part about "growing antlers" and "ashy grey". The final stanza was full of warmth and compassion and hope and I loved it!

The only thing that I feel might be better (and this is just my personal opinion...and it mightn't be too helpful since I don't write poetry) would be if you removed words like "tentatively" and perhaps "sombrely" as well. I find adverbs tricky, and even more so in poetry. I think they're not necessary since your other lovely descriptions already evoke a sombre tone.

Once again, lovely piece! Hope you write more =)

Author's Response: Oh, thank you!!! I can see what you mean about adverbs, since too many of them can clog up a piece, which I am sometimes guilty of. :) And if you want to read more, check out my author page. As alex13 can attest to, I have written pretty much poetry for the last five months, and it's filled up quite a chunk of my stories. Thanks again for reviewing! ~Nagini Riddle