Away To Summer Snow

Away To Summer Snow

Th’ bitch braced still outside her den
In th’ air, th’ stench of men
Wi’ slit’d eyes she glared below
Torches lit began to glow

Shatu was hated in her home
Th’ whites had come to settle Knome
Before them she knew not hate
Til they killed Kuk, Shatu’s mate

Up th’ ridges to their lair
Kuk had dragged his body there
To die shot through in searing pain
By his side Shatu had lain

Ev’n though she soon would whelp
Alone she stalked them wi’ no help
Her revenge, a clansman’s son
Br’ake th’ neck an’ swiftly run

She now defiled th’ lifeless child
Wi’ no remorse or no denial
Th’ innocent’s entrails ‘round she spread
To mark her grief in bloody red

Now in th’ glen th’ wail of hounds
Takes her trail to higher grounds
Twenty men share one voice
They leave Shatu but one choice

A cry in anguish then to flee
oooOOOOOooooooooooo, men, remember me
Then flash of silver in th’ night
Shatu bolts, begins her flight

Her heavy heart Kuk’s soul entombs
But six new souls swell her womb
To th’ north Shatu must go
Away to lands of summer snow

Th’ hounds now press her ever more
As padded paws bleed raw an’ sore
Relentless on pursues th’ pack
Shatu must put them off th’ track

Cross th’ river, down an’ back
‘Round th’ empty trappers shack
Run th’ trail north then south
Wi’ lollin’ tongue an’ gapin’ mouth

Poundin’ heart an’ heavin’ chest
She’ll run ‘em too, to east an’ west
Will her wiles stout noses taint
At last their bayin’ grows more faint

Before her now lay lofty crags
Yet up an’ up she slowly drags
Safe birthin’ bids her not to stop
Alone but free she makes th’ top

Below a valley opens wide
Shatu has crossed th’ great divide
As mornin’ sun lights th’ peaks
Shatu has found th’ grace she seeks