Forest Dwindling (Poetry Collection)

Wolf Walks

As Wolf pads over black shadows

And under the shade of bare tree limbs,

He raises his head and lets the scents wash over him.

Cold, bitter-smelling air stings his nose,

And if there's any prey in the area, he can't smell it.

He hears a noise - the sound of wind through leaves,

But not quite. It's too fast to be the wind.

The dirt under his paws is cold -

Freezing, in fact.

The time of warm winds is over

Wolf knows that winter is coming.

Content that there is no current danger,

The young wolf continues his journey.

That noise grows louder - the whooshing,

Over and over - but Wolf knows that it's just the wind.

And then, when it crescendos to a point where he can't stand it,

When the burning, bitter air assaults his nostrils in earnest,

He breaks free of the prey-scant forest.

The young wolf sees what's before him -

The great metal beasts that fly so fast,

And the unnatural gray dirt that they run upon-

And Wolf knows that the choice he faces is a difficult one:

To go forward, into the unknown, fighting past the dangers before him?

Or go back, to a place he knows, but a place he knows can no longer support him?

The choice is a difficult one, but Wolf chooses.

Then Wolf walks.