LUNACY
Taken by night she returns
to the cold mounds of earth
hunkered on human haunches
branch of a body senses sharp
tongue loose panting a ghostly vapor
Her moss mouth reeks
hair a mangled mane
hands that dig
of calloused knuckles, knees
feet toughened by turf
She remembered
the prick of pain
the piercing flesh while carried
by her not-so-naped a neck
A fierce cold terror
averted her vicious hunger
Spared from certain death
this grey-wolf mother
belly and breasts full
took the edge off raw fear
Captive to her fur-bodied family
she was cuddled, lulled
by steaming hot breath
Sharing another mother’s milk
Not quite child, not quite woman
this feral creature of private agonies
triumphed
Though well-intended men
plucked her nakedness from the ledges
from the shadows
down to the world of dresses, shampoo
and cooked dead food
Useless attempts to aright, clothe and contain her
for she was surrounded by far too much white
Tearing off layers
Silence gave way
to nightly howls
Chin raised
mouth pointed up to the perfect pearl
hanging high against the deep night indigo
A crackling cry erupts the surface
Pushed from the very quick of her existence
pitched with an inexplicable loneliness
She waits
She beckons
She walks her wooden floor
on four legs, pacing, circling
not a predator’s stare at the opal radiance
Of woman born, she-wolf suckled
she will die
yearning a full out run
up and beyond the hills
Into the night she returns
to the cold mounds of earth
hunkered on human haunches
branch of a body senses sharp
tongue loose panting a ghostly vapor
The lure of a full moon eclipsed them,
the well-intended men
The night was again with child
Ariel 1996-2019
has lived in Seattle since 1979, holds BA in dance and later a teacher of young children. She has been a dancer, physical performer, photographer and painter.
Poetry has been emerging from her for a long time, a constant companion
She has taken classes with some very inspiring teachers at Hugo House.
Absolutely passionate about the ocean and other shores, she retreats there to write and regroup whenever possible.
She is both adopted and a birthmother, working on a collection of poetry on the theme, called Beautiful Bastards, the Alchemy of Adoption. It is a mix of poetry, storytelling, edges of subconscious/dreamscapes, allegory/myth/fairytale….delves into the ethereal, the natural world, visceral experience and a touch of whimsy.
Her style includes: spontaneous, surreal, narrative, associative, lyrical and imagistic.
