Hair of the dog.
Blood of the beast.
Reach up in the morning
and find the face of a man,
not the muzzle of a wolf.
Night stalker.
Shape shifter.
Poured out the soul,
in exchange for fire’s words,
and strange medicine.
One trip too far.
One call too many.
Reach out past the boundary,
and one might come away
with something
that wasn’t bargained for.
The hide of an animal.
The teeth of a predator.
The eyes of what was once a man,
but who lost a game
of Bones
with nature’s Trickster.
Drink some more,
only to escape, now.
Gone so far,
all the people shun and mock.
They do not know
what exists
on the other side of night.
They are day-creatures,
and this is good for them.
Stand up,
as if on new legs.
Another man’s dawn
streams light in
through an open window.
It is over,
only for now.
They eye is open.
The Abyss stares back.
DJR – 2023
