Snow lightly graces his nose
As I am gazed upon,
He knows me,
He knows me,
His ears prick to a sound,
one I cannot hear,
And he trots off into the trees,
Invitation; so I follow
His soft coat is warm under my fingertips,
And his eyes kind before mine
My brother's powerful jaws are silent
He just stares, and I smile
But his ears prick once again
And this time
I hear it, too
I know the word for this danger,
He needs no word but Death.
My mind says "airplane,"
And he runs
I run
The snow is deep
Prey scatter but we are not for them
We are no longer predator
Tears fly with snow chunks
Is my brother weeping?
We run
Tree by tree by tree
All turn into a blurry haze,
of snow and woods
But we must not lead them home,
no - not to the cubs
My brother slows.
I can feel his weary legs
Ceaselessly pounding, pounding
He looks back at me,
With desperate eyes
My own tears sting my face
Gasping
Both gasping for breath
But the air cuts our lungs
And there is none to breathe
He stumbles and cannot get up
Exhaustion
But he can't help it
I can't help it
The Death comes closer
And we watch it arrive
It descends.
We do not need words for the thing that will destroy us
We are panting,
Eyes tired, beaten...cloven
And a Man comes out
I have a word for what he holds
My brother needs none.
It is Death
It is a gun, but I have not the heart to tell him
He stares into the Hunter's eyes
Defeated, Beaten, Destroyed,
Panting...
But still his own
The Hunter raises his Death,
Between the two beautiful eyes
Of my brother
Between the two kind and fierce orbs
Of my brother,
Ready to destroy my brother!
I want to scream!
To fight!
To leap up and destroy this monster!
but I am too weary...
and so, helpless...
I watch his gloved hand
Twitch
...twitch...
and it's over
The tears I wept before were for fear,
These are for loss
I lost my guide, my friend
But worse:
they lost him
His mate
His cubs
His pack
They lost a good friend
They lost a good wolf
Somewhere in the night -
there is a wolf howling,
mourning,
a mournful song of travesty,
of mockery,
of death.
Author notes
This is based on a dream I had a while ago. Unfortunately, this is all too real for many wolf families, whose members are unjustly run down in helicopters and shot when finally they can't run away because they are too weary, that or they're posioned.
Whatever the case, I appreciate comments.
-Arias' Son
For The Contest: This would be considered options One (animals) and Six (a person I admire).
Written July 30th, 2005
A contest entry
- Prewrite Mania-BUT!! by JeannieD Hunter.
500 points, ended April 4, 2007, 20 entries
Silver trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - Special People by mylilpunchki.
1050 points, ended April 11, 2007, 26 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
What did you think
Comments
1 - 10 of 10
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I... it is truth.
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This is so tragicly true. Such a horrible thing hunting is. And to set out just to kill is even more disgusting. Awesome write. Thanks and good luck.
Jeannie -
Such a heartfelt and very sad write, but about something that is far too common in this day in age...
I am not quite sure how this fits the description of my contest ,....dedication for ap friends and fellow poets, but since it is my last contest I'll let it pass this time.
Thankyou so much for entering and goodluck xx -
really nice! very sad. but a very nice write!
thanks for entering -
Thanks for the comment. Truthfully, I never was good at endings. If you have any suggestions, I'll take them into consideration.
-Arias' Son -
This was simply beautifully told, it was so atmosphereic and I literally hung off every word - the 'twitch' reptition worked so well, in my minds eye i actually saw a black gloved finger pulling a trigger, and then there was just deafening silence - you brought this to life, and I have tears in my eyes now because of the eloquent way in which you told it!!
But worse:
they lost him
His mate
His cubs
His pack
They lost a good friend
They lost a good wolf
That was the only part I didnt like ... Suddenly it was very demeaning, 'good friend, good wolf' and the short sentences - it just completely took away from the power of the poem ....
Best of luck in the contest - I think this i s a winner!
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This is a riviting tale of connection with your animal guide. I am well aware of such connections and honor your piece. I had no idea that helicopters were the new tool of modern hunters. I don't like that idea at all.
I like the way you wove this tale with a surreal sense of realism. It's like I was there, in the dream, as a witness to this travesty... Good writing.
Thank you so much for sharing this with us.
As to the comment about pets, in the author's comments section, well, that's why I worded the contest as such. My animal companions (two dogs) are members of the family, loved, respected and live in a symbiotic realationship with us. They are noy "owned" any more than my son is. Unfortunately, over the last millenia, man has domesticated certain animals to the point where they can no longer live in the wild. These animals deserve to belong to a pack, the family, as their choices are bleak otherwise.
Thanks again for sharing this.
TW
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Ah, I based it off the fact that Wolf is one of my spirit guides. Thank you for the comment.
-Arias' Son -
Terrible. I, as I write this, feel a sense of loss I cannot place. Wolves, d'apres moi, are one of the most noble, beautiful, amazing, and awe-inspiring animals on this planet and I am so grieved by man's eagerness to be rid of them.
You've captured the sadness of having one more cruelly taken away well here. I am saddened by this poem - yet I find it so true and so touching. I also very much enjoyed your first-person perspective in the eyes of one who is somehow bonded to this wolf; it made the poem that much more interesting and inventive and drew me in that much farther. It reminds me of some of my father's Native American friends and their romantic manner of speaking of all animals as brothers or sisters and of the moon as a mother and the sun as a father - is this off of what you've based your brotherhood? Your language is fantastic, as well. I always admire someone who uses language to their advantage.
Allow me to pick out some favourite lines:
> "My mind says 'airplane,'
And he runs"
> "Both gasping for breath
But the air cuts our lungs
And there is none to breathe"
> "He stares into the Hunter's eyes
Defeated, Beaten, Destroyed,
Panting...
But still his own"
> "a mournful song of travesty,
of mockery,
of death. "
I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed this piece. You have a fabulous imagination and a wicked way with words to create a story. Very, very nicely done.
All the best of luck in the contest!
(+) Thank you for your kind comment on my unfinished fantasy story. It is uncertain as to when I will have the chance to continue it, but when I do I will surely inform you. I am very glad you are interested in it as not many are. Thank you again.
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Well, I certainly learned something new. I wasn't aware that hunters had taken to helicopters to shoot their prey. Incredible! Horrible is really the correct word.
I have yet to have a dream about wolves, but I think I would wake up crying if I had this dream.
Thank you for sharing your work, and good luck!
Adding your comment:
1 - 10 of 10
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