I’ve always loved the woods—
smoky swells of moist loam, evergreen,
canopies of oaks, maples, beds of fern and moss.

In the rhythmic beats of wildlife—frog bass
katydid staccato, cardinal calls − I take the darker path,
tracking where I want to go.

I’ve always known Wolf watches,
camouflaged in the thicket—breathes me
into his breast, his glinting hunger lighting his lair.

I smell him, his lush fur, musky skin,
the hidden hide of his longing for flesh—
my longing to be feral again.

I walk nearer each time—
extend fingers to cast my scent further     further
until I catch his trembling jaw, stroke his throat,

wrap him in my red cape
and we are crowned crimson and silver.

Catherine Arra is the author of four full-length collections and three chapbooks. Her newest work Solitude, Tarot & the Corona Blues is forthcoming from Kelsay Books in 2023. Arra is a native of the Hudson Valley in upstate New York, where she teaches part-time and facilitates local writing groups. Find her at http://www.catherinearra.com