Roo

[Virgil]

I haven't written poetry in, my gosh, probably twenty years. But lit net has whet my appetite, and so I've written something. I've been searching for a subject, and frankly when I did write poetry in college I was never very good at personal/confessional poetry. So I doubt I've gotten better in these twenty absent years. This is not a personal poem. I had been searching for a subject but sudeenly two weeks ago on a drive down to Maryland I got inspired by what else, wolves. There is no great profound theme here, but my hope was what I feel is the primary function of written art, to make you see or feel.

Please be harsh in your comments. The poem is probably too long; I found it difficult to cut. Also with free verse, it's tough to decide on the line length, which drags the thing longer rather than consolidating. I didn't have an inspired title, so I just called it simply Roo.


Roo
Instead Roo turned toward the west
Sun over hills sinking
Hills upon row of hills
Wind circling through pine trees
Round hills topped with snow.
He felt the breaking bond,
The separation that severed suddenly
Pack going one way
His snout aimed another
So that the odor of wolf no long pulled
Parentage forgotten, sibling surrendered
Wolf warmth suspended.
At first he sauntered, then trotting,
Upon snow crusted hard
Front paw in tender steps,
Through woods with tree trunks buried
Crust collapsing, toes extending
Then surface breaking,
Front body twisting forward
Legs folding, snout snow tipped.
With that he lunged upward
Tasting cold snow that melts on tongue
Burst into gallop, heart pounding
Breath breathing, so that no pull from pack
Was felt in heart, prancing through shrubs
Leaping over logs, westward bound, solitary.
And the sun sinking, up hill running, down hill sliding
Wind circling, wolf heart singing.


And then the hunger came to him
Darkness, wind, cold, snow blowing
Eyes twitching, blinking from snow blowing
He stopped, slipped under low bough of
Pine tree smell, snow wall layering
Drifts of snow with no odor of warmth or nourishment.
Roo lies in body warmth with circling wind howling,
No life in motion or sound or smell.
Was it a mistake to carry off?
Would death find him under tree bough?
What prayer to mutter for wind to stop?
Let sleep overwhelm him with ears twitching.
New day brings sun light and no wind circling.
Dig out from snow bank, birds twitter
Snow sound too muffled, a tweak here but no smell.
Onward, though hunger comes again.
And so more snow and hunger and night and day again
Until now hunger felt in paws and mouth
Until tired and doubt and prayer.
Was death to find him solitary?
Was hunger to overcome him?
No life in snow or nourishment in tree.
No warmth in wind, no odor of life.
And suddenly jack rabbit squirts under hedge
And prayer answered suddenly
And pounce and flush and run and twist
And turn, life racing for life
Through snow and hedge and thorns.
Wolf paw on jack paw and trips and fur in mouth
Between jaw and palate firm grip
Then whip and shake so that neck snaps
And life ends and life saved.
Warm flesh gives nourishment,
Warm odor, blood taste, down to bones crack.
Eat fast, gut gorged on small jack
Gut quenched, rest, nap.
Where now? Whither off?
Back to westward, back to sun set.

And then odor of life comes through trees,
Through woods and rock, odor of urine and body,
Wolf’s bodies, and feces and fur and warmth,
Odor woven through woods riding on wind
Woven through cold, on top of stream,
Woven into air, into sound, into ground,
Odor of pack, of bodies, of wolf bodies.
On to other wolves, on to other bodies,
Through trees and stream and hills.

And Roo finds other wolves, a pack of six,
Males and females. Approach, though growls
Ward off, teeth snarl, shine and threaten.
Keep distance, but rub odor and urine to pack.
Pack hunts and Roo trails by, like
A goose at the end of a flock.
And pack crafts shape of hunt
Circles buck while feeding.
Buck runs, pack runs, circles round
Buck pivots round, pack crimps circle closer,
Craft of hunt and Roo surges first and gets hoof
Buck sprints, jumps, and lets blood call
And pack meets blood call and clamps jaw.
Roo too clamps muzzle and craft of kill
Rip flesh and clamp jaw, bind beast
And bleak struggle until life ends.
And males and females feed, growl, fight
Snarl, teeth flare, nostrils snort, blood swallow,
A stream of blood that reinvigorates self,
One blood through pack, one blood rolls
In endless circulation, through wolf and wolf,
Through heart and lungs and paws and toes,
Through gut and body and urine and odor.

The pack rests, darkness arrives, guts gorged.
Moon rises, wind circles, males and females,
Roo amongst them, howl at sky, a tongue of stars
Howl with breath and throat caressed,
At trees, at fabric of odor, at blood wind
At soul of stars.

[Riesa]

It's interesting to read a poem by you, I didn't know what to expect.
It's full of dignity, and beautiful images, my favorite image, that really brought Roo to life for me is:

Was felt in heart, prancing through shrubs
Leaping over logs, westward bound, solitary.
And the sun sinking, up hill running, down hill sliding
Wind circling, wolf heart singing.

I like it, it's long, but the story has substance, so I didn't mind the length.
The only thing I had a little trouble with was the simplicity of the language, at times. I'm guessing that it's meant to be the stunted wolf language? I can see that, but it distracted me, and made me question the wolf's intelligence, even though his mysticism and power shone. Do you know what I mean? The other thing was your jackrabbit "squirting" Do they? I know what you meant but the rest of the poem's language was so natural and "brown" and then squirt came along like a tube of toothpaste. I'm not the best at analyzing poems, as you know, these are just my impressions on reading it through a couple of times.

I like it though, and I can't believe it's been twenty years since you've written, get busy, you have a lot of lost time to make up!!!! :D

[Virgil]

I like it, it's long, but the story has substance, so I didn't mind the length.
The only thing I had a little trouble with was the simplicity of the language, at times. I'm guessing that it's meant to be the stunted wolf language?
Yes, it was intended to be in wolf thought. And I guess since we don't know what wolf thought actually is, I felt caught in the middle of human language and "wolf language". Thanks for the comments.

[Petrarch's Love]

Hi Virgil--I liked this poem. I was actually going to point out the same lines Reisa did, especially the final line of the first stanza: "Wind circling, wolf heart singing," and the way you repeat references to the circling wind again in the second stanza, first to mark the continuance of the snow storm, then to mark its cease.

I actually liked some of the simplified "wolf thought." I thought there were moments when simplification lent a lot of immediacy to the scene,

Darkness, wind, cold, snow blowing
Eyes twitching, blinking from snow blowing
He stopped, slipped under low bough of
Pine tree smell, snow wall layering
Drifts of snow with no odor of warmth or nourishment.
The string of words in the first line "darkness, wind, cold, snow blowing" and the absence of articles--"eyes twitching" rather than "his eyes," and "low bough of Pine tree" rather than "a bough" or "the bough"--emphasises the experiential quality of the poem. The wolf registers only what is immediately before him and affecting him. I think the problem with some of the simplified language is that you aren't consistent with it throughout but as you say, you jump between human language and "wolf language" in a somewhat confusing fashion.

I also agree with Riesa about the word "squirt," and I thought in this line:
Where now? Whither off? that "whither" was a little out of place. Other than that I thought it was a good read, especially if this is your first poem in twenty odd years. And your avatar is the perfect visual for the poem.:).

[Charles Darnay]

Great poem, it certainly did what it set out do to.

i agree with Petrarch's Love in that "whither" was a bit out of place - especially if you were going for the "simplified wolf speak" - which i thought worked really well. the only other line that seemed to not flow with the rest was "breath breathing" - that line kind of sticks out as not meant to be there - but that's just my thought.

[Virgil]

Thank you all. Good comments. I'll make some adjustments, although I kind of like "breath breathing".

[Charles Darnay]

rhythmiically, it certainly flows and sounds good - but in terms of the imagery - especailly with everything surrounding it - isn't it kind of redundant?

[Virgil]

Well, what I was thinking was that the breathing was so hard and heavy that each breath itself looked like it was breathing. Does that make sense?

[Charles Darnay]

yes.... that does make sense

[Pensive]

I found the topic very difficult. I am impressed that how were you able to find so much stuff about it...

It is good. I am looking forward to read your upcoming poems. *smiles*

[Page]

I love this poem Virg, it's soooo primal!!! Your descriptive ability is incredible.

[Virgil]

I love this poem Virg, it's soooo primal!!! Your descriptive ability is incredible.
Thanks Page. I'm only seeing your comment now. Yes, I think primal is a good word for what I was after.

[blp]

The wolf language thing, the way the actions are listed, gets wearing for me during the buck kill, but overall it's carefully written and nicely observed, strikes no bum notes and I like the repetitions.