Howl

Allen Ginsberg Spoke out Howl

And awaken the poetic heart of a generation

But there is another Howl

Ringing over the mountains of Montana and Wyoming

A single howl and then another and another

A howl of anger and sorrow for murdered brother and sisters

A howl answered by the wolf spirits that live in those mountains

A howl to be heard in the dreams of the ruthless hunters

What will become of the pups

With no one to provide for them?

They will soon go to join their parents

As the cold of winter overtakes them

But no crime goes without punishment

The yin and yang always find balance

Let the dreams of the wolf killers

Be filled with the howls and snarls of the murdered

May they feel the fear of the ghost pack

That now prowls their land

10/16/2009 8:54 PM

Comments: 16

Krystal Harwell Oct 16, 2009, 9:08pm EDT

aaaawwoooooo

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Erin O'Riordan Oct 16, 2009, 9:11pm EDT

The indiscriminate slaughter of wild wolves is more than an injustice, it is a crime against the earth and against our own souls. You have expressed this eloquently.

Elizabeth R. Oct 19, 2009, 12:16am EDT

Absolutely beautifully written. I have never heard the howl of a wold in the wild, but I have heard the cry of a coyote. Eerie, to say the least.

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Georgiana S. Oct 16, 2009, 9:25pm EDT

the sick joke is they were put on the endagered list, then when there were more 'stocked' the hunters took aim. Wolves, the faithful, monogamus species that humans could learn a lot from.

Elizabeth R. Oct 19, 2009, 12:17am EDT

That is so true, Georgiana. This is so tragic.

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Jennifer Lee Oct 16, 2009, 9:26pm EDT

Very powerful, John. I recently wrote about wolves. Did you happen to read it?
Featured in The Poet's Circle.

John Doyle Oct 16, 2009, 11:18pm EDT

Yes. I liked it

Jennifer Lee Oct 16, 2009, 11:25pm EDT

Thank you!

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Ruth MacGill Oct 17, 2009, 10:22am EDT

Wolves are needed as nature's regulators. If the managers of Yellowstone decided there were too many of them to keep nature's balance to match the number of elk, bison, and other prey animals in a limited space, maybe they could have found room for them in other wild and remote national parks or forests, where prey animals are overpopulating their living areas, rather than kill them.

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Ann M. (Site Scryer) Oct 17, 2009, 10:56am EDT

The price we pay for killing off wolves in an ecological one. Ecosystems are healthier and more diverse when they are present.

Thank you for posting to The Surreal Circus.

Elizabeth R. Oct 19, 2009, 12:18am EDT

Precisely.

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Guy W. Oct 17, 2009, 12:38pm EDT

This might be a little off-topic, but we have coyote ranging along the river bluff right across from the downtown. They're still only a suspicion to some neighbors, but I've seen them at odd times of night.

It's kind of disturbing how the witch-hunt mentality grows up so quickly. Every time a cat goes missing, someone whispers that "we have coyotes, you know" to gasps. There are enough neighbors, so far, who remind everyone the coyote were here first, and keep your cats in the house if you're worried.