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Index of poems (to be continued):
A Werewolf's Tale
1
Do Werewolves dream about the Hunter's Moon
That rises on a Summer Solstice eve?
This lover dreamed he might not change too soon;
He had more than a daydream up his sleeve.
While the full moon wrought changes in his brain,
His thoughts were of a girl with auburn hair
And how a man might easily explain
Fur growing on his hands, and everywhere.
The Hunter's Moon brought fire to his blood
And made his blue eyes red as burning coals,
Making him run through forest thorns and mud
To hunt and kill, devouring flesh and souls.
What might the lady say, if he confessed
"My love, I'm not the same as all the rest"?
2
A wolf is but a dog without a home.
He's much-maligned in tame society;
For underneath the night sky's star-flecked dome
He must survive by random savagery.
We cannot know the world seen through his eyes,
Nor know the same intensity of smell,
Nor, when the full moon first begins to rise,
Why he must howl, as if under its spell.
Thus Silas, though hybrid of wolven kind,
Found ways to to live with wild wolves and survive;
They seemed to whisper to him in his mind
Of how to kill, or how to stay alive.
Most mornings, by the light of early dawn,
He'd wake up naked, sprawled on his front lawn.
3
Fair Marianne was always his delight,
In contrast to his strange nocturnal life;
Therefore he only met her by daylight
And daydreamed that she might become his wife.
He draped her neck with flowers of the field,
Swearing that one day, precious chains of gold
Would take the place of Springtime's humble yield,
With all the precious rings her hands could hold.
She never dreamed his hands were sprouting fur
Or that his teeth were fangs, on each moonrise,
But loved the gentle way he smiled at her
And never saw the red moons in his eyes.
Poor Silas, ah, poor lady Marianne,
When love speaks to the wolf inside the man.
4.
They kept a tryst one summer afternoon,
The amber sunset quickened their desire;
Silas was heedless that the rising moon
Was soon to re-ignite his savage fire.
He kissed his lady softly, while outside
The silver moon emerged from veils of cloud;
Then Marianne was roughly pushed aside
As Silas hid his face and moaned aloud.
Now brown bristles, emerging from his hands,
Confused the lady further, so she screamed.
The ire of wolverine was in his glands,
Whose curséd soul might never be redeemed.
Now, as Marianne screamed, in great distress,
With teeth and claws, he ripped away her dress.
5.
He knew not of how far afield he ran,
Silk dress in mouth, in terror of her screams,
Knowing not whether he was wolf or man,
Awake, or suffering horrific dreams.
His own clothes split and scattered as he grew,
Catching on branch and bramble, on the way,
Until the night sky brightened into blue
And every trace of monster fell away.
Now sunlight filtered softly through the trees,
Spreading its golden halo far and wide.
He woke up naked, chilled by a light breeze,
With Marianne's red dress thrown by his side.
He saw the torn material at first
And picked it up at once, fearing the worst.
6.
Silas looked to his left and saw a wall,
Within the wall, a wooden gate, ajar;
In front - a nun, while speaking not at all,
Her eyes were asking questions from afar.
She witnessed almost all his nakedness
Except for what he covered modestly.
In haste, he donned his lover's tattered dress
And ventured to start walking daintily.
No man had crossed the Silent Sisters' path
For many moons. Silas had pretty eyes,
So they offered him shelter and a bath
And did not see beyond a wolf's disguise.
They saw a boyish whore in tattered stays
And kindly tried to help her change her ways.
7.
The nun who had encountered Silas first
Suspected that something might be amiss;
She'd watch him, silently, with her lips pursed,
And saw what her sisters were wont to miss.
Was "Susan" rather dark about the chin?
Did she sit with her legs too wide apart?
She seemed to have a somewhat toothsome grin;
Her voice was deeper, from the very start.
Was she a little strange about the eyes?
Whither did she go wandering at night?
And why, when twilight brought a full moonrise,
Were her eyes blazing with some inner light?
And while some older nuns had facial hair,
The palm sides of their hands were always bare.
8.
One night's departure saw him not return,
Leaving no trace - except for worried sheep.
The little nun became the last to learn
"Susan" had gone, for she was still asleep.
Silas was heading homeward, feeling strange.
The cross about his his neck had seared his chest,
And now, when moonrise caused his monstrous change,
His wolfish ways were kinder than the rest.
When toads needed to cross the carriageway
He carried them sedately on his nose;
He did merciful deeds by night and day,
(Although at night, the beast in him arose).
Until at length, while in the guise of man,
He found the home of Lady Marianne.
9.
He scrambled up the ivy on the wall
And breached her balcony's stone balustrades.
There, by her window, in the moonlight's thrall,
He sang the eeriest of serenades.
Fair Marianne came suddenly awake,
Aroused by dreadful howling from outside,
For such commotion, long before daybreak,
Can never be ignored, much less denied.
Drawing the curtain back, she saw him there,
A lonely hybrid, between wolf and man,
In torn nun's habit, with much facial hair,
Regarding her as only true love can.
"Why Silas, be you witch or Devil's slave?"
She cried, adding "You badly need a shave!"
10.
Now they were reunited once again,
In spite of Marianne's rich family,
Who looked on Silas with lofty disdain
As if he were some waif, in poverty.
It was a strange arrangement, to be sure,
For Marianne had wed a wealthy lord,
Yet he was mostly absent, and what's more,
This left her, oftentimes, alone and bored.
Silas became a member of her court,
(As much a courtier as he could be)
Held in highest regard and warmest thought,
In spite of all his eccentricity.
For Silas, borrowed love brought no regret -
He'd gone from monster to beloved pet.
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