& his jaw doesn’t leave the ground for four whole days.
meanwhile, the trees curve their shadows around him.
meanwhile, the moon doesn’t leave the sky. meanwhile,
the raven's nest in his hair. the whole village stands back.
the mother with her pitchfork, the father with his beckoning torch.
they are all glittering & dressed in black. no one speaks.
the boy keeps crying wolf & hearing silence. the wolf lies dead
behind him, but the boy won’t turn around, won’t look at it,
so the wolf lies dead & the boy keeps crying. he cries –
/wolf are you there/ /wolf did you leave me/
/wolf wolf wolf/ & his mother cries too, but quiet.
the crickets want to be moths & the moths want to be crickets.
the torches dance left & right. the insects’ shadows are cast like
small transient spells. the wolf lies dead & the boy lies too,
cries – /wolf/ & there is no more running. he clamps his teeth
around his wrist, arching himself in a rabid rapture. blood spills &
tastes the earth. the boy cries – /did you stop loving me wolf/
the boy cries –