setting their snares:
Game Slayer Coon Cuffs, $29.99,
Rubber Jaw Coil Spring Leg Trap,
a bargain at $13.99.
Into the mud,
or under green boughs,
they spring them open,
then retreat.
As their voices fade away,
the creatures come back
to reclaim their habitat.
Sister Wolf streaks across the clearing,
head high, yipping,
joyously running,
her freedom felt in her very cells,
blood pumping,
alive, alive, alive --
until the sudden snap,
piercing unbearable pain,
and she is held fast to the earth.
She bites at it, pulls away,
realizes it cannot be escaped.
Growls, snarls, whimpers,
and then one mournful howl.
She sinks to earth.
Pain, thirst, hunger, fear.....
and then she hears them,
coming back,
voices loud, triumphant, laughing.
Dear God, help me not to hate
the ones who set the traps,
for I do,
and it disturbs my soul.
* images from howlingforjustice.com
