Wolves Poem by John Beaton
Wolves
I'm wakened, drawn toward the ice-thin window,
to witness scenes as faint and still as death.
How bleak the moon; how bare the trees and meadows;
sky's pale maw overhangs
Earth bleached beneath star fangs.
Night's curled lip sneers on shadows
of mountains set like teeth.
Two bow-waves shear the median of the valley;
iced hayfield yields as feral muscles glide—
hoar-frost disturbed by wakes of live torpedoes;
grey shoulders breach and lope,
implode and telescope,
impelled by ruthless credos
of chilled and vicious pride.
The wolves tear savage furrows down the nightscape;
their eyes are shined with blood, their mission clear;
grass springs back shocked to green behind their passage,
twin tracks traverse the vales,
cold comets trailing tails
leave scarred in frost, their message:
"The wolves, the wolves passed here."
The stanza form is my attempt to convey the power and motion of loping wolves.
Each verse has seven lines. The first three have five beats, e.g.
I'm WAkened, DRAWN toWARDS the ICE-thin WINdow,
The last four have three, e.g.
sky's PALE maw OverHANGS
The shortening line lengths provide acceleration.
The rhyme-scheme is xabccba. The x and b lines have feminine (Da-da) endings. These throw momentum to the following lines. The a and c rhymes are stressed single syllables. The adjacent c rhymes speed the poem and, in closing positions, the distant a rhymes give a sense of resolution.
This poem provided the title for an e-book called "The Wolves Passed Here", where it was first published. It has since been republished several times.
A refined poetic imagination, John B. You may like to read my poem, Love And Iust. Thank you.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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5/7/2024 4:01:52 PM # 1.0.0.1119
A thrilling tribute to wildlife! Thoroughly enjoyed every line. And John, thanks for the notes. They bring a whole new dimension to this excellent write.
Thanks, Richard. I'm glad you enjoyed it and I appreciate the close read of the lines and the notes!