I’m writing again.
I’m writing a wolf.
I write that his coat gleams like ice,
that his eyes shine like sunlight on snow.
The wolf says “no”.
I write his hunger. I write his belly
clenching against his spine,
his teeth biting down on air.
No.
I write the scent of life
clinging to leaf and twig,
a red thread running
through a labyrinth.
No.
I write the paw prints
ink on paper
the trail cutting away
to the horizon
I am drawn to writing about wolves at the moment. I don’t know why. I’m just writing it out of my system. This is for the dVerse Meet the Bar night.
Sarah writes poems 
This is intriguing, both because of the imagery (the stanza about the wolf’s hunger is so well done!) and because of the wolf seeming to guide you in your writing.
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I love how you tore away from the wolf… but those first two stanzas are amazing.
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I think it has something to do with October and the fact that there are two full moons this month. 🙂 Especially love; “I write the scent of life clinging to leaf and twig, a red thread running through a labyrinth.”
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Sanaa pegged my favorite line. The whole piece is visceral, alive, and loving with its insights. I feel you. Sometimes I just have to write the tiger.
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It’s an itch. You just have to accept the need to scratch.
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Howlingly good, Sarah!
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🐺🌙
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We see but we do not know. (K)
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Wow, this is dark, powerful, and mysterious. Love it. ❤
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You’re a woman running with….. Aoooooooooo!
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I really like the imagery of the wolf you used in this poem. Nicely done.
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Write where your muse takes you. I like this one, like two voices contradicting each other. So who is winning?
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I love the structure and phrasing of this, Sarah and that repeated “I write”. You make it look easy and of course it’s not….JIM
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Wolves are very intriguing
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I love this, especially the pawprints.. I love everything about wolves.
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Your have given us a great picture of what the wolf is all about… not all that different from human beings!
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Intriguing poem, I could feel the wolf’s hunger and at the end I was wondering if he was coming for you with the pawprints ink on paper and a cut to the horizon! A lot of tension here and I’m thinking there is a battle ahead.
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I really like the opening of this and the repetition of NO. There is a strength in voice and I am intrigued to hear more.
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I love the relationship with the wolf in this poem, Sarah, especially as we haven’t had wolves in the UK for a long time, although I think they left their scent behind. I love that in the poem you are writing a wolf and the way ‘his coat gleams like ice’ and ‘his eyes shine like sunlight on snow’, taking us back to a previous time when winters were cold enough for wolves and humans were more aware of ‘the scent of life / clinging to leaf and twig’. Most humans seem to have lost those heightened senses in the modern world. I’m love the final stanza – I want to follow those paw prints.
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The wolf’s “No” reads like a statement of independence, denying anyone the right to determine its course or character.
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I love the direct metaphor…”I’m writing a wolf”…so intriguing as is the rest of your poem and the way you have allowed them to guide you poetically. You may find it interesting to look up the Native American mythology of wolves. 🙂
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Yes, I think I should.
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I like the idea of a poem being like wolf prints written on a page.
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