Black Wolf of My Heart

[image from howlingforjustice.wordpress.com,

an activist working for protection of wolves from

crossbow and archery hunting]

Kids, this morning I woke up with a poem in my head about a black wolf - my black wolf, or at least his spirit-kin, now moving through the forest in his stead. But when I went to look for images, everywhere I clicked told a story of heartbreak. The above wolf, in danger of dying a horrifying death by crossbow or, more slowly, by a half dozen arrows; the wolf below, beloved in his home town of Juneau, found illegally shot dead, his life ended by random cruelty, ignorance and lack of consciousness. Likely my poem today will be a different one than I had in mind. I was thinking of him walking through his forest in safety and calm, not being hunted down in his diminishing habitat. These fellows look exactly like my own wolf-dog, who had a heart and intelligence - and  right to live - as does any other being. I rescued and protected one wolf. I wish I could protect them all from the worst predator of all - mankind.

[photo by Brian Wallace at Juneau Empire newspaper,

posted after

 this locally loved wolf was found illegally shot dead]

Black Wolf

of my heart,

your intelligent eyes

look out

on a world

full of

unexpected

peril.

You have to

struggle

to survive,

to find food,

to find shelter,

to make it through

hungry winters,

to raise your young,

to not be killed

before they are

able to

make their

own way.

But most of all

you must be wary

of the

Two-Leggeds,

who drive their

noisy machines

through your wilderness,

tossing beer cans

left and right,

raising their guns,

their crossbows,

their arrows

at anything that moves,

back-slapping,

raucous,

completely disconnected

from the

land

they tromp through

so heedlessly.

God and Goddess

of the All That Is,

protect these

creatures

that live more

intelligently

than we do.

Guide them to

secret and

sacred

pathways,

that they may

survive

our thoughtless

and predatory ways.

For a world

without wolves

is a world

I cannot

contemplate.

April is the Month of the Wolf in Boulder, Colorado, where people are trying to raise awareness about these beautiful creatures.

[freewebs.com]

"You can't love nature

with a gun."

Paul Watson, Greenpeace