I'll never forget the first moment I saw you
flying across field and fallow
in a wild ride to grandmother's house —
scarlet cape streaming out behind you,
white hands urging that black steed
to madness, to death, to certain ruin.
Like one of the furies you appeared,
a creature not of this tame green place
but of my land,
where the lamia creep in crags and caves
and the bogey haunt misty borderlands.
A country where ghouls devour the sun
and the whirlwind stirs the fog on a whim.
I watched and waited.
And when I realized nothing pursued you,
not a demon's furious hunt or a spurned lover.
I smiled
and followed quietly on the forest fringe.
And now as the darkness approaches,
my appetite whetted by the rising moon,
ravenous thoughts consuming me,
forcing me to madness at the lush pain of it all
I raise my voice to the stars
and surrender.
I can't stand the fierce seduction a moment more —
that thick, dark pelt of sable hair and scarlet hood
hiding the heat of your throbbing pulse
from my ears, eyes and mouth.
I can't bear the torment, the bliss,
the fear of your savage secrets.
I love you so.
I'll gobble you up.
About the Author: Carina Bissett is a journalist, poet, and fiction writer living in northern Arizona. This poem was inspired by the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood.
"Wolf" © 2001 by Carina Bissett. The poem may be not be reproduced in any form without the author’s express written permission.