Gray Wolf
Gray Wolf
Winter gray hides sun
Pewter skies too cold to snow
Snow lies everywhere

Two days spent on scout
Watch sky for black raven shape
Third morning lucky

Gray wolf lopes through snow
Stops on white hillside nervous
Black shapes congregate

Wolf watches watchers
Breath gleams white against gray land
Black wings color snow

Undertakers' shapes
Descend on strewn red carcass
Hidden from watchers

Gray wolf stalks unsure
Toward red snow behind small rise
Nose down to read scent

Trots down draw wary
Scatters black winged breakfast club
Eagles with ravens

Takes one red mouthful
Runs again to top of rise
Scavengers return

Nose up wolf tests air
Ignores black clique on carcass
Watches watchers watch

Runs again down draw
As black shapes again retreat
Once again ignored

Wolf feeds quickly now
Scurries back to white lookout
Black wings come again

Wary wolf paws snow
Watches beyond cold watchers
Watchers read red snow

Elk kill freshly made
Too large for gray wolf alone
Killed by pack at dawn

Lone wolf wise to signs
Pack scent all around white bones
Return imminent

Lone wolves killed by pack
Black wings await next carcass
Outsiders beware

Winged ones have no fear
Flight trumps fang once snow is red
Winter's kills fuel life

Black plus white makes gray
Red on white says survival
Winter Yellowstone

Bald Eagle and Common Ravens on Elk kill
Bald Eagle and Common Ravens on Elk kill