A Wolf's Reply to the U.S. Census

I was a wild child

   raised by wolves

They wanted me to be a lawyer

but I had my eyes on the deep woods.

The first day of school was hard

   the seats didn't fit

so I howled like a wolf

should.

To make me stop

   they tied me to a tree

with infinite love.

That really confused me

but it was okay – 

I made friends with the other

   bad wolves

We plotted, we developed that lean, hungry look

Oh we had fun – 

We smoked some plants and saw God – 

she played New Orleans piano

   with a left hand to die for

We spent years trying to get

   that hard groove down.

I guess our education suffered – 

they fed us junk food

   some kind of experiment

so we all ended up working at 7-11...

Did you ever get your nose broken by a junkie with a gun?

I recognized the look in his eyes

   I felt it

before the store went black

                                                   

When I got back from the hospital

it was okay, except

I forgot what her eyes looked like – 

   the piano player's.

                                             

For days I watched the sun

lick ice off the windows, sad and thirsty.

I had a dream, I went down to the river

with a news anchor

   yeah, she looked good

but then I saw my reflection in the water

and it was a strange creature

   not a wolf at all

So I ran and ran

until my 20s were over

   all the time thinking

I'm alive I'm alive

Oh it hurt.

Things are better now.

The woman who delivers ice cream,

I watch how she handles it

   so gently

She taught me that love is silly, infinite

   and man-made.

Imagine.

Except for her

I'm alone

   with my wild love,

   

my pride and evil ways.

Every day I remember the eyes

   of the junkie

   and the piano player

Mine are on the deep woods.