The Howling

In the Spring 2020 edition of Formidable Women by Moon Sanctuary Press, my howl for justice:

The Howling
 
starts at sundown
plaintive lament
call to the pack
warning                      
Yip owooooo
 
across the canyon
walls lined with oak and bay
madrone
 
holding the sound, buffering,
then release, ringing from reservoir  
to mountain flank
to canyon bowl
up brushy walls
coyote bush, acacia, poison oak,
wild iris
here and there
a tended lawn
dandelions separating the grass
moles, voles and wily
gopher burrow beneath
 
the call of the wild
on early April wind
ringing through canyons
cry of thanks, and gratitude, a lowing
of community                         
           
 I’m here, and yes I’m here too
and me and me and you
 
for tonight and as long as it takes
here on earth we honor
coyote brothers
owl sisters
acknowledge oak and madrone
mountain abiding
a ring of joyful noise  
to anchor us as ancestors
with stories to tell
 
tonight the sun slipping down
before the hunt begins
the call to come home, be safe,
the howling begins, from nooks
notched in the side of the mountain
echoing all around,  
from the flatland
from houses with lawns
from the ones
with jacked up trucks
and the ones with Beamers
the ones with no cars at all
 
all join
the joyful howling
the call    
(anyone listening?)
 
to painful human
solidarity
~