In late evening,
I sit on the porch
washed purple
and grey,
criss-crossed
with fireflies
and echoing
with silence.
The howl of a wolf
splits my silence
in an instant,
rending open the sky
to let all
of the passions
of the world
pour across my head.
That lonely wailing
is jazz
to my ears,
played to an audience of one
long after last call,
when the low lights
still glow
faint-mysterious.
I feel
almost sacrilegious
bearing witness
to the world’s heart
poured forth,
but I cannot help
listening to
that heartbreaking solo
drip from
the wolf’s throat
somewhere out
in the darkness.
My heart
knows all of the notes
of this haunted ode
but as it begins
to synchronize
to that arrhythmic howling,
the howl of a second wolf
join the first
with piano key-soft tones
and a third add drums.
A spark of warmth
appears
and the wolves howls
harmonize
across an otherwise
lonely night.
I feel my howling heart steady,
comforted in knowing
I have a pack
to run with
when the night
grows long.
.
On DVerse this Tuesday, the challenge is to write a poem in the first person that compares some trait of ours with something animal. It should not be a whale, but another creature (mammal, fish, bird, insect, etc.) with which we have something in common. The title should be the animal thing, in the same way Marjorie Saiser chose ‘The Print the Whales Make’.
Seamus O'Shaughnessy, Jr. 
Somewhere between a smoky New York jazz club and the ’50s and what comes over the wilderness ridge comes to fruition here. — Well done!
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Thank you! I wasn’t sure how to split the difference of the imagery so I went with both at once 😂
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This is absolutely phenomenal! I can clearly visualize you when that spark appears.. to be a wolf and to run with the wolves is no small feat. Salute. 💝💝
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Thank you! I’m glad you liked it 😊
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Beautiful piece, I could hear that howl the whole poem!
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Thank you! I’m a very auditory person when I write, so I quite enjoy encorporating sound into my writing.
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It works well!
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You establish a wonderful mood in this poem. Makes us all want to run with the pack!
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Thank you! I think with how much everything has been locked down around the world the last year its a feeling a lot of us miss, running with the pack! haha
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Absolutely.
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A superb poem, Evan! I could hear that wolf howl echoing through every line. I love the way you set the scene, the colours ‘criss-crossed with fireflies’ and the silence, set up for the sudden split with wolf howl and that you describe it as ‘jazz … played to an audience of one long after last call’. A heart-breaking solo indeed, which I will never get to hear in reality, but your poem has given me a taste for wolf jazz.
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Haha thank you, I’m glad you liked it! I was trying to give nature at nighttime the same feeling as a lonely club, with a single saxophone wailing in the darkness!
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“comforted in knowing
I have a pack
to run with
when the night
grows long”
I really love this. 🌸
VVN
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thank you 🌻🌻
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The songs of Nature. A wolf howl is most certainly the bass. The heart and rhythm of the night. Outstanding and moving poem!
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Glad you liked it, thank you! 🙂
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I wish I would ever hear the howl of wolf, it is so rare so it’s something I only have seen on TV
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I understand that feeling. I think I’d have to move a bit further from society to hear it more than once in a long while!
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A poem beautifully penned and imbued with such wonderful imager. Great Write.
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Thank you!
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Pleasure. Great Read.
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Wonderful thought, expressed beautifully!
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Thank you!
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The howl of a lone wolf is a lonely sound, wistful and longing. In company, the sound becomes song. Love the way you express that!
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Thank you! I’m glad you liked the poem!!
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