Once there was a child
Abandoned by his family
Given over to the autumn wood
for the wild to take its toll
But the indecipherable stars
and the mysterious moon
had granted mercy from on high
and sent saviours to the lost boy
In the darkest night of despair
Companions raced out of the shadows
The boy no longer wandered alone
He now had a pack
He ran with his brothers
Fought with his pack
Hunted the swift deer
and followed the lonely moon
So the boy learned rules
more ancient than civilization
more true than modern justice
He learned the laws of nature
That death is quick and never fair
Speed and stealth will triumph brute strength
Survival is all that truly matters
Life can only exist with the death of others
The last lesson was learned
At the greatest of costs
When winter came across the boy
his skin could not handle the frigid weather
So the oldest wolf
A beast of the highest nobility
Offered his beaten hide
to keep the young pup alive
The boy survived that season
though he wondered why
Why one should die in favour of another
Why does one life not equal another?
But those are the old adages
belong behind the walls of men
The old perish while the young grow
Wasting that kind sacrifice would help no one
So the boy learned
with more haste
with more brutality
than we of safe cities could dream
Until the day
A trap mangled the young man
Caught him fast by the leg
Stopped him cold in the summer
Though his brothers tried
he was stuck in those metal jaws
For the sake of his pack
The young man told them to leave
Days passed sparingly
before a man arrived
Well accustom to the wild freedom
and to cultured streets
The man released the wolf-boy
and sought to bring him back
To show him the mercy of rooms
The kindness of humankind
But when the boy awoke upon a bed
He did not see kindness
He did not see mercy
A wolf only knows freedom or captivity
Into the streets the wolf ran
His countenance savage and bloody
The townsfolk ran in fear
Except for one
The trapper who showed the boy love
his hand of love now a fist
brought the rifle from his hip
brought his aim to the wolf
The last law of life
was etched into the breast of this proud beast
While Nature's being is sweet and unsettling
Humans will always wear many evil faces
This lesson pierced the heart of the wolf
As did the bullet from the gun
But despite the love of the moon
The wolf, child, boy, and man, died.
While the love of the moon
could not save her beloved son
The wrath of night
saw that justice was done
From that day forth
the trapper never slept
His dreams invaded by hunting figures
His nights filled with mournful howls
And so a boy became a wolf
So a wolf was killed with kindness
So kindness killed
So death heralded new life
Because from the shell
of the wolf's broken body
A new breed of men sprung
Those who longed to touch the moon
Werewolves
No monsters
But men
But wolves
