I heard it
just before my campfire
slowed, oddly calm--
the howl seared my peace
from an unknown distance.

I could see it in the trees;
the nervous leaves shivered,
lost their snow,
perhaps wishing me to flee.

But the howl cut into my ears
and huddled there,
its feet scratching,
its fur bristling--

I shook my head free
but its breath smothered me,
hot, rank, ripe with waiting
impatiently.

An angry wind shoved the trees
and jostled the crowd of yelling leaves
urging me, run run
but the howl was all I knew--

Suddenly, I could taste what the howl wanted:
smooth fur and malleable flesh
that falls apart in its captor's teeth
before it knows to writhe,
simple, easy, like biting into a peach
and I savored the metallic tang of conquest.