The animal spirit she possesses, An agile anima stalking a dark spark within, Looms as predator and protector. This hunter-rogue guide Glides through her Soulscape, Revealed as moon illumined mountain forest, A place of winter-refracted Ethereality and lurking danger. In this dusky, deceptive ambiance, She has access to a primordial instinct – Archetypal symbols, ancient signs – At once savage and wise. Finding herself in this Wilderness of vulnerability, She girds for battle. Staring squarely into the dark, Duplicitous and cruel face Of her adversary, she prepares. She finds the strength to see What are lies and What are the truths -- Both are found there In that pitched, lacerated visage.
Like all warriors across Time immemorial, She embraces her pain, Exercising control over it. Absorbing the jagged, Razor’d contours, She sees In its elements The space where the “Other” ends And where she begins; How she was made A flint against which He sharpened his cutlass And where she Has made of herself The door through which he entered.
From this core radiance Comes a rapier will to survive, The strength to guard her kin, The keen intelligence To unleash her primal howl, And the blood-fire to rule her demons.
Okami is the Japanese word for wolf. A photo representation that inspired this poem: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10210179988232171&set=a.10208174166607884.1073741828.1113041505&type=3&theater