Has it really been a month??

Well, since for a while I've been trying to come up with something witty and original to post on the blog and have failed miserably, I think I'll revert to something I wrote a while ago. This was for a creative writing class. See what y'all think. Any and all comments welcome. Like it? Hate it? Think it could use some improvement? Have suggestions? Let me know. Ta!

"A Run From Cover"

I look up from my book,
startled. Four deer
explode
from their hiding place across the clearing
like a covey of quail flushed out by a pointer.
Following closely in a long tawny curve of
terror
is a cougar, the black tip of its tail
waving and balancing
like the hand of an intent gymnast on a beam.
The lead doe's frightened bawl resounds,
a tinny echo in the meadow,
chilling,
fruitless.
The cougar's claws dig into the dirt,
flexing,
as if it has already caught its prey and is
tearing apart flesh and fur rather than earth and grass.
I sit beneath the tree,
praying that the deer will get away –
and praying that they won't.
If they do, I will become the cougar's next
target.
The little stampede passes
in a flurry of hoofbeats,
crackling twigs, and
panicked, labored breaths.
I sit and shake, gasping at the savage
beauty,
delighting in the play of sunlight on golden fur
and the ripple of muscle beneath it
that carries the big cat across the clearing like
a wind-up
toy
across a table –
and trying to block out the
scream
quickly silenced
by the closing of powerful jaws.
The cougar's prey could just as easily have been
me.