Yellow Wolf Eyes Follow (Katherine L. Gordon)

Yellow Wolf Eyes Follow

 
A black dog comes uninvited
into vision before I sleep
his yellow-fire eyes gaze
into mine before they close.
Through a fringed barricade
of half-closed cringeful eyes
I fight the penetration of that fixed mesmer,
I have met him before, understand the warning.
The wild soul in depths of wolf eyes
matches my own,
a wordless communication that incises
all the meaningless into the void.
He summons, soon I will follow.
In his eyes I see the path changing,
the circling of time-clouds over far forests,
I must let go into that yellow light of the cauldron,
fierce new beginning,   ease of old closed doors,
Secretly I welcome him with astral eyes.
 

Katherine L. Gordon
Wolf Moon, 2015.


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Thanks for this beautiful poem, Katherine. Not long after I retreated to the old mining hamlet of Cordova Mines 25 years ago, I had a similar encounter with a lone timber wolf. I was returning in the late afternoon from Peterborough, and decided to drive home by a winding remote back road. Just past Preston Bridge a huge timber wolf loped across the road and into the woods about 150 yards ahead.

I'd seen several dead coyotes by this time, one a dirtied roadkill beside highway #7, the other the size of a scrawny German shepherd, shot to prevent its predation of a farmer's livestock. The coyotes weighed about 55 pounds at most, but this lone timber wolf was huge and regal by comparison.

The surprise sighting of this rare animal overwhelmed me, so I stopped my little Honda in the middle of the deserted road to collect my senses. I looked longingly into the hilly woods where the wolf had disappeared, and suddenly there he was, staring with as much surprise and curiosity as I was.

Our eyes locked and we shared a moment of timeless interaction. Neither animal wished to break the spell of our encounter, until finally the wolf turned and faded into the brush. His coat was regal - a thick mottled grey and black robe. There was nothing frightening whatsoever about the encounter for either of us, and I've often wondered if he thinks of our meeting as often as I do.

Chris

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The January 2015 full moon is the first full moon after the December 21 solstice. In North America, we often call this full moon the Wolf Moon, Old Moon or Moon After Yule.
Astronomically speaking, the moon is full at the moment that it’s most opposite the sun in its orbit (180^o from the sun in celestial or ecliptic longitude). For general reference, however, we can say the moon is full all night tonight, lighting up the nighttime from dusk until dawn.

The January 4, 2015 rising full moon in Italy, via Osservatorio Astronomico Università di Siena.