“Wolves and women are relational by nature, inquiring, possessed of great endurance and strength.”
Clarissa Pinkola Estes

A cold early winter night
Greets me
When I step outside.
A fresh layer of snow
Lies upon the ground,
It's only marring
A single track left by
A small animal's feet.
The air is still,
Quiet,
Its chill
Turning my breath
Visible as
My eyes are drawn upward
Where I gaze in child-like wonder
At the sky,
Now impossibly clear
After a day
Of clouds.
The stars are brilliant
Against the velvet darkness,
They sparkle and shine,
Seeming to laugh
With cosmic joy.
I smile at them
In return
Until a movement
From the woods
Catches my eye,
And I sigh with pleasure-
For there,
Peering back at me
Stands a lone black wolf.
For long moments
We regard one another
With mutual curiosity,
Neither of us
Expressing fear
Or malice,
And I imagine we are
Communicating
On some primal level
Before it turns
And disappears back
Into the dark woods,
Leaving me alone once again
With my thoughts
And the joyous stars.

c. 2024