Wolf

I’ll never forget the first moment I saw you

flying across field and fallow

in a wild ride to grandmother’s house —

scarlet cape streaming out behind you,

white hands urging that black steed

to madness, to death, to certain ruin.

Like one of the furies you appeared,

a creature not of this tame green place

but of my land,

where the lamia creep in crags and caves

and the bogey haunt misty borderlands.

A country where ghouls devour the sun

and the whirlwind stirs the fog on a whim.

I watched and waited.

And when I realized nothing pursued you,

not a demon’s furious hunt or a spurned lover.

I smiled

and followed quietly on the forest fringe.

And now as the darkness approaches,

my appetite whetted by the rising moon,

ravenous thoughts consuming me,

forcing me to madness at the lush pain of it all

I raise my voice to the stars

and surrender.

I can’t stand the fierce seduction a moment more —

that thick, dark pelt of sable hair and scarlet hood

hiding the heat of your throbbing pulse

from my ears, eyes and mouth.

I can’t bear the torment, the bliss,

the fear of your savage secrets.

I love you so.

I’ll gobble you up.