Wolf

I’m a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but this a world of wolves

Picked clean from the bone

The flesh fascinating new creations innovating cadence savouring the decay of the wastelands aegis,

I have swallowed the truth like my own flesh, lustrous

I have bitten the bullet many times

A tooth for an eye

An eye for blind ambition

In a dog eat dog world, a smile is as much a show of warning, as it is warm

And as I snarl at the coming years myriad, seeking to swallow the sun itself

So I am not as coldhearted as I remain

I hunger for peace, and am one of the puzzle called life, although incomplete

Yet I ask myself, tight-lipped, why I still have teeth

Even when my fight should have been over

Years ago, while they were still sharp as daggers

To crush the harsh world, and the souls of my foes

These battles are eternal, and the dead murmur

Through curdling servitude of purgatory

Flourishing flowers salivate from the mangled corpses like opal horsemen

Running through the battlefield, chasing down the lone wolves

To put in the burial ground those who have yet to die, calling from their solitude

The dead crawling from the cotton fields

Chasing down the murderers of the past, so that there will be more to come take our place

In a future slippery with our tears, and serpentine with our blood

As we walk onward, limping as our wounds sting with the memories and apologies

For those are the only things that came home

And I carry my burden

But my mouth still waters, and my fangs still sharp, have ripped apart this life

The world-devouring is itself, constant

And I wonder when my fight will end, and another man will take my place

On the road to a slow death, and eternal shame

And I wonder if he knows what he's walking into

When he buries me deeper down the rabbit hole

He doesn't know that he will join me someday

Lying down beside me, underneath the canopy of trees rooted in the earth like bullets

After getting more than his fill

But still so hungry, in a wilderness, that is altogether, purgatory

Author's Note

I very seldom reply to reviews, but I promise I read EVERY single one. I look forward to my next review, because it helps me learn. Even if it's just one word, I promise, I will be ecstatic to have the chance to hear what you have to say. Whenever you write something about my poems, or the themes of my poems, or criticize me it is not in vain. I will listen, learn and be thankful.

Reviews

[barleygirl]

This is one of those poems of yours that I find to be crystal clear & I love how you express the ongoing life dangers & disappointments in such creative ways, this does not sound like lamenting. Your message has a tone of acceptance -- life is s**t, people are untrustworthy, but we don't have to let that define us. They say that we teach people how to treat us (by not taking their s**t). But in my experience, some people just won't learn, no matter how we try to teach it! (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[R.J Calzonetti]

I agree, in some cases there is no choice but to bite back. Only then do you know one has teeth. Sometimes only through a show of strength for those who wish to hurt, can earn you the weight of respect.

[Kay Salisu Titilola]

This is true, R.J
We are in a world of wolves.
It's better to me more careful when people smile than when we see them frowning,
We are in a world of wolves.
Bad people survive, Good people fall in into deadly traps,
We are in a world of wolves,
We growl inward with a fake loud laugh,
We are in a world of wolves,
Where men prey on one another for fun.

[R.J Calzonetti]

The unfortunate truth. I suppose the best we can do is to be the best we can be, as human beings.

[Kay Salisu Titilola]

And I agree with you.