Coda: New Moon
Basalt under foot,
the thin fur of lichens
to the edge of a sheaf of stone
as if a ramp to the cold black water
unleashed, one wolf first
beneath a million stars in the black, black
sky
more than a million
nose down,
the water all that he could drink
all that could ever be
a howl now
no deep dish of light to steer his way
nose back up
an answering, a howl from across the bay
answering, the she that bears watching
who may bring him to heel,
howling, the she in the equation
howling again, he
a dip of the shoulder
a howl
black night
her howling
tamed now,
he charges back along the run of rock,
she as if night goes on forever
howling
Reprise: Full Moon
across the lake adrift in snow
in this space and time
the moon smudged and haloed round
the more snow to fall
his howling begun
the wind come up
tomorrow’s storm
only a few those stars to steer by
prick the sky in such light
the one howl he hears
an echo
unleashed across the sound
untamed
unanswered still he lopes
and she
in silence
night’s shadows
beneath a rocky ledge from where the world
could begin
he comes apace
one howl and then another
oh he howls
Ladson 2013
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