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| Mother Wolf |
At the moonrise I heard a sound A howl in the night from the forest surround I stoked the fire, my heart began to race As I realized I felt out of place More howls joined the chorus, I'm petrified with fear Then from between the trees, a mighty wolf appears Frozen in apprehension, as the beast approaches Then two, now three wolfs! come from the forest encroachment They stop a few feet from where I'm reclined I notice there's not a touch of evil in their eyes One mighty wolf, the leader of their pack Takes a few steps closer, but not to attack She's right beside me, sniffing at my feet My fear, slowly, begins to decrease For I remember lessons taught well The scent of your fear the wolf's nose can smell She looked to me, her eyes reading my demeanor Strangely I realize it's not the first time I've seen her! I remembered once when I was a child A wolf in the woods who brought me a smile I was lost, wandered too far away My mother forgotten while in the forest I played When I discovered the way back I didn't know I sat down and cried, then it began to snow A sound I heard from not too far distant A softly uttered whimper, but nonetheless persistent Cautiously I stood and looked around the tree A wolf pup was there, but no mother I could see So small and precious, he must be lost like myself Scared and alone, so with fear he would yelp Slowly moving closer, to pet his soft fur I spoke to him quietly, soothing with my words "Now, now, little wolf, don't be afraid. Our mothers will find us, so here we will stay. We'll keep each other warm, as the snow falls. Snuggled together, with no worries at all!" The pup seemed to understand, and crawled in close Sharing our warmth under the falling snow Soon we were asleep within our protection The approach of his mother missed my detection I awoke to a nudge, the mother wolf had found her pup Her muzzle inches away when I woke up But there was no growl, she made no threatening move Though she prodded me awake, it was all she meant to do I sat up straight, the wolf pup went to his mom But they didn't leave me, instead bid me to come I could tell by her actions she wanted me to follow So I let her lead me to her den in a hollow Mother Wolf and her pup had gone inside her den As I stood in the cold, in the snow and the wind Mother Wolf came out, and seemed almost to say You are welcome to join us, my pups want to play! She moved behind me, and nuzzled me sternly And bade me inside, insisting firmly So I entered the mighty wolf's den But it felt more like the home of a friend Inside there were two pups, playful and cute Fighting with each other, as siblings often do When they saw me they stopped their game And came over in welcome, then wanted me to play So I joined their little wolf romp They'd playfully bite me, but knew when to stop Then Mother Wolf broke up the sport And said, "Go to sleep," I think was the meaning of her snort All of us lay in the den all together Snug and warm despite the weather When the sun was arise, snow covered the ground And somewhere distant I heard a faint sound Soon I realized the sound was my name My mother's voice calling me again and again I knew it was time I must bid the wolf family farewell I hugged them all, if they were sad I couldn't tell I left the den and ran towards the voice I didn't want to leave, but I had no choice My mother was so happy, wondered how I survived So overjoyed, tears filled her eyes As she hugged me I looked to the den The wolves seemed to be smiling, and I knew they were friends I didn't tell my mother with whom I had stayed And my secret I've kept until this day Now here before me, Mother Wolf and her pups Saying hello, and showing me how well they'd grown up The Mother Wolf licked me, as if asking how I had been Then her pups, now wolves, came to me again They pounced on me playfully, "It's so nice to see you!" I returned their 'hello', "nice to see you too!" And so how it was, my friends in the wild Who remembered me from when I was a child That night again we slept snuggled together Under the stars: man, pups, and Wolf Mother We awoke in the morning, we said our good-byes Because of our friendship, a man and wolf are alive |