Stray Wolf (2020)

STRAY WOLF

Beyond these woods, there is a stray wolf running from the winter hunt, like a shadow of life.

On its ragged back, gray like the evening sky , under lonely moonlight I will ride this night.

Over fields of rye , his feet will tear through darkness , until the morning stars shine  from the cold black sky.

His old white fangs  shine like silver arrows,  in the depth of the marches  where no humans dare.

Across mountain dew, where all the world lay open , his frozen breath is howling  to the fading moon.

When I see the sun  glow like a ring of sulfur  we have reached the summit – I lay down to die.

My journey’s done – from the human heartland, on the back of the stray wolf,  to the end of life.

I will rise again  in the shape of a demon , and unleash the ocean – my stray wolf, my stray wolf.

CORONA

I stand alone on Joshua Bridge, by the traffic light. The rain feels like acid to my skin. I see a car that’s burning, it’ s lights are like the cold, naked silver eyes of a scorpion.

I follow the long road to the end of town , to a building site left to rust . The cranes look like preachers, staring at the sky , waiting for the blessing from a scorpion.

All through this night – when every thief crawls through my window – I find someone has been walking in my shoes.

I walk to the houses high up on the hill , waiting like giants for the flood. I see through every curtain that shadows are asleep , caught by the eyes of a scorpion.

I see the storm clouds gather and lightning strike the trees , I raise my arms toward the falling sky . There was a time when people rushed along the streets , blinded by the poison from a scorpion.

An ambulance-scream, like a cry of pain through the city – the driver is void, and his eyes are lost beyond reason. Block out the light from the street lights that shimmer like diamonds, crowning a face living a life with no meaning.

All through this night – when every thief crawls through my window – I find someone has been walking in my shoes.

I come to the supermarket where the floor is gone , the roof is hanging like a broken jaw. I see a long-lost child there, abandoned to the flood , his empty eyes stung by a scorpion.

I walk up the staircase to see beyond the clouds, see the horizon open up . I can see the fires from the power plant explode , into the night like blood from a scorpion.

I wade across the river to the city cemetery , walk across the flowers left to rot . I see in every headstone, people trying to hide  they all carry the poison of a scorpion.

All through this night – when every thief crawls through my window – I find someone has been walking in my shoes.

All through this night – when every thief crawls through my window – I find someone has been walking in my shoes.