The Pact
Image from xose00100.deviantart.com
“We have doomed the wolf not for what it is, but for what we deliberately and mistakenly perceive it to be –the mythologized epitome of a savage ruthless killer – which is, in reality, no more than a reflected image of ourself.”
― Farley Mowat, Never Cry Wolf : Amazing True Story of Life Among Arctic Wolves
Silence
Weighed heavily as she waited
Hanging like a wet cloak on her shoulders
Wind
Whipped through the tops of the trees
Bringing gusts lashing the grass below
Rolling lines flowed away from her
As the wind blew the grass towards the plain
Confetti like fluttering heralded the autumn leaves
Fluttering
In colourful swathes around her head
In the silence she could hear them coming
Talking softly to each other
No need to shout
When the mind can say so much more
A pause
As they picked up her scent
Her family, her once family
Questions flickered swiftly through her mind
Why was she here?
Two legs could not be seen with the pack
Heart breaking silently she pleaded with them
Lift the promise she made
Her time with the two legs could end now
The pack was safe its territory secure
No longer was the bargain required
That one of the pack should stay with the two legs
Become one of the two legs
So they could feel safe
Safe that the pack would no longer bring them down
When they ventured into the pack’s territory
Puzzled they asked her
Why should the pact be broken?
Her family could hunt and kill the deer
The two legs no longer hunted them for their pelts
The cubs could grow in safety
Run with the wind
Play with the salmon
Raise their cubs in time
Two legs could never be trusted
If she returned
Two legs would hunt them once again
Thoughts were becoming fainter now
As the pack moved further away
Wait!
She silently cried to the night
Let me return! Let Me Return……
Silence
Weighed heavily as she waited
Hanging like a wet cloak on her shoulders
A heavy shroud for her heavy heart.
image from http://www.richardharland.net
image from howlingforjustice.wordpress.com
© Susan Jamieson 2014
Owls and Orchids 
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