Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Wolf Wisdom


"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed."
Excerpt from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery - prompt from Real Toads.

I lived with a wolf
for fourteen years.
I found him in the wild,
where he was trying
to survive
as a baby, on his own.

I took him home
and he lived
in a house with me
for the rest of his life.
But his spirit
-and mine-
belonged solely
to the wild.

He made
these adaptations
to be with me.
In return,
every afternoon
I took him
in search
of wilderness trails,
rushing rivers,
the ocean's shore.

Tail up,
alert for the scent
and sound
of critters
in the bush,
he'd race before me,
looping back
from time to time,
to check on me,
then off he'd go again,
forever chasing
that enticing
and elusive
wildness
that coursed through
his soul,
and traveled always
before him,
luring him
just a little bit
farther
down the trail.

When he died,
his death 
awakened
my inner wild
wolf-woman,
who had been sleeping.
Now his spirit
lives within
my heart,
and I am
longing
even more
for our
shared wilderness.

I can feel him,
now Wild Woman,
wanting to
run through the bush.
I can feel him
wanting to
breathe
the salt sea air,
plunge into
its roiling waves.
I can feel him
wanting me to
flee this township
and return us
to our
wilderness home.

As much as
I tamed him,
insofar as
a wild creature
ever
allows himself
to be tamed,
he woke up
the wild
in me,
and now
Wild Woman
is singing
unstoppably
and
forever
through
my bones.

10 comments:

  1. Such a piece that you stop midway to mumble an elegy to a friend departed. You tell me a story that cheers my heart and breaks my heart with the self-same intensity. Cheer it because you speak of such a bond in apt diction. Break because when he dies ( I can't stand to call up his name) I can feel the roaming spirit. But again, if he is not entirely gone, then all is not lost. :)

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  2. I love this... I half expected that Pup's spirit might bound into this challenge. I'm so glad he did. The part of the quote I like most is:

    So the little prince tamed the fox. And when the hour of his departure drew near--
    "Ah," said the fox, "I shall cry."
    "It is your own fault," said the little prince. "I never wished you any sort of harm; but you wanted me to tame you . . ."
    "Yes, that is so," said the fox.
    "But now you are going to cry!" said the little prince.
    "Yes, that is so," said the fox.
    "Then it has done you no good at all!"
    "It has done me good," said the fox, "because of the color of the wheat fields."

    You time with Pup has done you good too, because of the colour of the sea and the wild woman in you.

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  3. I simply have no words for how wonderful this is, Sherry. I've always recognized the Wild Woman in you, and celebrated her unquenchable zest for life! Now that she has Pup's adventuresome spirit spurring her along, I can't wait to see where she takes you next...:)

    Lynette

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  4. Very beautiful, very earthy piece.
    Your picture of the merging of souls is powerfully heartfelt. I rarely read something so strong. Every word moves me.
    Thank you.

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  5. Sherry, I am glad your inner Wolf Woman is now alive again. Your dog would be so proud that his memory will carry on in this way.

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  6. I really enjoyed this. I never had tamed a wolf but I'd like to think I still have an inner Wild Woman who urges me to plunge into the 'roiling waves' Thank you.

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  7. Very beautiful and wild - both the poem and your spirit.

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  8. I love how you combined your spirits and the love of the wild wilderness~ It was a beautiful tribute to Pup! It was profound...xXx

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  9. So beautiful Sherry.

    'and now
    Wild Woman
    is singing
    unstoppably
    and
    forever
    through
    my bones.'

    ...wonderful!

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  10. What a beautiful love story you shared........Sandi

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