Dead Grey Wolf Skins
(Tribute: Aldo Leopold)
By Michael Lee Johnson

Dead grey wolf skins hang
on white clotheslines across Baraboo, Wisconsin
the dark surface, side of the moon,
that only exists in memories hung high, long before.
Hunters in the past did their job well,
sold skins, collected a few bucks,
increased deer for hunting, saved cattle,
decreased fear, told tales, short stories, adventures.

Laying down in this field just resting.
Resting from life’s riggers
just for a minute.
But never to rise again from an eternal sleep.
A green blanket tucked about their heads.
So many are they now.
In their counting that inevitable question,
When will I increase their
count by just one more.

Be not alone
all are lonely,

somewhere in the vastness of eternity
someone calls out instantly
still we say wait
time hasn't come yet
then the loneliness vanishes

the unknown comes in one’s dreams
and screams
where have you been!
one says
are you now asking
an autumn leaf?

the invisible one smiles alongside
now tis autumn
there is no surprise

hope you too will be
some day
flying about
side beside

capricious lantern brush
her first blush enchantress
a phosphorous merchant
cushions spells to curb him
withdrawn from nativity
like the cobras lazy form
who in turn caresses him placental
gives him the mammary placements
grape chests for patients paralysis tugging

I smell tinged and sharp....full of adrenalin burned off and night oases
i smell of crotch and ass from riding the trail....armpits from
the drugs wearing off..spandex and cotton wrapping my long
legs...dust and dirt in a heady mix....like a horse in heat....
shirt pockets smeared with old cologne and bent cigarettes
and a long black leather jacket worn in and worn tight with
love seeped into its pockets....sweat daze in its frayed
interior skin draped open at my visits..my meetings..my arms
splayed on chairs..my chair tipped back..

Why do you cower and hide?
Stand up and change your life!
Whining changes nothing!
Its sickening, irritating!

Show me your mettle, man!
Don't tell me its the end
you're neither spineless
nor are you brainless

Stop wallowing in self-pity
making yourself feel empty
when you can strive harder
be wiser and stronger!

Cowardice doesn't suit you
doubts will only stop you
when you should move forward
to be free from the hurt

Each breath does now stink
fouled by your dubious lips
which had lured me into a kiss
now makes my heart sink

Gone are those milky ways
now blurred in my misty gaze
hope too has sunk to the bottom
of a well I now can't fathom

I piss off your poisoned potion
curdling knots in my bloody veins
in the muddied mess I now stomp
on the mirage of your lovely face

Your shadow follows me no more
now freed of your dubious love
as I tread on a road less traveled
my breath now rid of your foul

Tonight I heard a snowflake
In fractal notation
Whisperings of winter
And death's final moments

In hushed darkened hibernation
Unaware of slumber
Timed to replenish
One two step one two step

Suspended stillness
Yet timed to perfection
A springtime birth
Repeated in verse