An Omen Of The Taste Of Twilight

Vanished

is the wild magic of this place;
this wilderness I now roam alone
as its lifeblood seeps 
into 
Afterlife

..my mournful howls
across time and distance
go unanswered -
Oh, how I long to join again
in my brethren’s song..

fading sunlight falls in slivers
through boughs of evergreen splinters
across timeworn trails I tread -
beaten by generational rhythms
of the steady, swift and sure

I want to run
but I keep my loping stride
for I will get there; 
to the track  
to the other side 
when the twilight tastes 
of blood

the train’s lonely wail
leans on sooty winds
heaving sighs of sad sentiments
as I make my way parallel to the parallel lines of track -
its smokey dirge
echoes laments
walled within the desolation of my soul -
this Trojan horse;
larger than any mighty prey
my brethren and I could ever take down -
smuggles pale warriors into my revered forest 
on veins and arteries of iron
throbbing with an inhumane vengeance



..my mind wanders in the reckless wreckage of it all..



neath overhanging branches
where leftover oak leaves
rustle in a clinging stubbornness 
and flit like a flock of freeze-dried sparrows
I pass..
somewhere up there
above my rolling shoulders
where reaching tips of praying branches 
pierce the softness of the other side
a widowed crow cries 
black and forlorn..
I embody her solitude
for -
from my pack
I am the 
last 
of my kind —

..despite my discipline
my tireless legs trot faster..

a maroon sunset stretches with bloodlust across taut skies;
an omen of the taste of twilight -
my pace and my pulse quicken now
like the tribal drums
I used to know


I arrive  
here where they gather

a track I can no longer follow - a track I need to cross;

..tales of stalking deer - trails traversed with my pack - thoughts - tears -
 my path now -
what’s left behind - boundaries kept and boundaries to bridge..

human hatred

all converge at this meeting place



amidst falling shadows of dimming light 
are forerunners of freedom - 
aged memories that dwell in the pocket of my being
now well in the stream of my noble bloodline -
primal chants
haunting from throats 
both furred and smooth-skinned
resonate in reverie;

.. millenniums of coexistence and ancient campfires..

forebears; both four-legged and two
vibrate the mystique of this moment -
its quivers 
I sense in my whiskers --

I see the invaders
through my grey-green eyes
mine; the final witness
to the decimation of my pack
and the territory of my ancestors..

in the atmospheric chill
my panting vapor frames my thoughts
and instinct urges me forward
to the track

the sun is 
dimmed 
by my passion
and the moon 
reflects 
in my eyes
every hammering heartbeat 
a stepping stone to the next moment
every muscle twitching
with trepidation - with anticipation


..Oh! how I long to join again
in my brethren’s song!..

 
long legs carry me lightly out onto the crossties
my soulful destination
where parallel universes collide
to lift me in my wish to inspirit cosmic dust;
my snarling form reveals the wild nature of my fateful desire..
I turn 
to face them one last time -

muzzles flash with fire-breathing frenzy 
splitting the air
with scents and sounds
in an orgy of gunpowder lust
spilling the taste
of wanton bloodthirst
into the ebb and flow of crimson twilight;

pale savages savagely ensure my unholy deliverance.


..my mournful howls

across time and distance

no longer 
go
unanswered

as I cross over the gossamer track

of gentling night skies…



 Susan Ashley 
December 8, 2018



~ Second Place ~
Contest: Your Personal Perfect Poem
Sponsor: Brian Strand 


~ Seventh Place ~
Contest: Favorite Free Verse
Sponsor: Chantelle Anne Cooke


~ Poem Of The Week ~
Week of December 16, 2018

Copyright © Susan Ashley | Year Posted 2018