Poetry winner - Mervyn Peake Awards 2009

Margie Kopke won the poetry category of the 2009 Mervyn Peake Awards, with her poem 'Wolfsong'.

Wolfsong

I like wolves well enough. I like their howls
They speak of tracks and wastes that nothing mars.
An isolation that's all snarls and growls
Their lonely hearts strung out along the stars.

A flicker in the firelight caught my eye
A grey form slunk inside, a puff of smoke,
It hid. It's true that I cannot deny,
At first I shrugged it off as some poor joke!

The wolves have tracked me now for quite a while.
The patient pad of paws, I hardly hear,
For deprivation stalks in single file
And moonlight floods the shadow 'fear'.

I have become aware of their presence –
The svelte silhouettes that press against the sky.
A lifted muzzle calls the pack and rents
The night – the safety net in which I lie.

Even the moon, serenely seems to stare,
Swings low, an eavesdropper upon their meet
And beams her silvery smile into their lair,
For she's not heard a song so sweet.

I do not think I'd like the smell of them
When one day they get close (or their sharp teeth!)
Their darting in I hate, and try to stem
Their impatience, as their fangs unsheath.

Will I still fight with brandished flame
Until the brave embers' fading glow?
The slowing down, the bowed head, the shame
Of helplessness and saddened heart will show.

As the fire dies down they’ll take their turn,
One by one… and bit by bit… No roar…
Nor growl… devoured in parts, oh then I'll yearn
The coup de grace! For there will be no more.

That cold amber of vulpine eyes will be
For me a home. For when I'm done I'll choose
To race the stars and howl for all eternity,
Mourning, with wolves, what's lost and still to lose.