Jane Satterfield
Wulver
The good werewolf
Out here, the moon’s
a lantern, beloved guide
for navigating rock pools
scrubbed by salty waves.
Home’s a kind of island cave
& yes, it’s true, I live unchained,
free to wander out to where
the story drops a thread.
Once we were a wulver clan
who walked the line between
man & beast, fur-sleek
fishers sporting tartan
under moody Shetland
skies, our wolf-heads fogged
with otherworldly wisdom,
eyes reflective, gold or silver-blue,
scanning the hills in low light
straight through shining shades
of grey. Exiled from the forest,
we learned to trust the tide, earned
our reputation on good deeds.
Those waylaid on upland wilds
we met as brethren, protectors
who ensured safe passage along
perilous routes that led toward
smoggy towns. It was a point
of honor to share out portions
of the herring haul with hungry
widows, leaving fresh catch
fanned across their windowsills.
In a realm where war follows
war, some customs are bound
to fall from fashion. History’s
annals favor the flaming beasts
inked out on sheepskin vellum
by sacred scribes, who, hunkered
in seclusion, mused on sword play
& battle lust. But we who aren’t
monsters dispense kindness
like sugared tea. Is it any wonder
there is no real trace of our lives
in the lore of vanished things?
Jane Satterfield has published five poetry books, including The Badass Brontës, a winner of the Diode Editions Poetry Prize, Apocalypse Mix (Autumn House Poetry Prize), Her Familiars, and Assignation at Vanishing Point (Elixir Press Poetry Award). She is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts poetry fellowship, the 49th Parallel Award for Poetry from Bellingham Review, the Ledbury Poetry Festival Prize, and more. Recent poetry and essays appear in The Common, DIAGRAM, Ecotone, Interim, Literary Matters, The Missouri Review, Orion, Shenandoah, Tupelo Quarterly, and elsewhere. Satterfield has served on the faculty of the Frost Farm and West Chester Poetry Conferences. She is married to poet Ned Balbo and lives in Baltimore, where she is a professor of writing at Loyola University Maryland.