Awaiting the Wolves

   

  

 

Awaiting the Wolves

I will hold my breath

and remain perfectly still

like a bird on a limb

like a tree in the woods

shivering in the chill wind

not making a sound

or movement

hoping not to be noticed,

just standing, observing

the forest around me

as my heart beats like a drum,

awaiting the nightfall,

the wolves of prey

dressed like men,

and the gray clouds

and snow,

flakes falling on my eyelashes, nose, and tongue,

breath making a foggy mist

in the dimming light,

holding my breath

making not a peep

not a sound,

awaiting the subtle crackle of leaves beneath their feet,

as they draw closer with arrogant swagger,

awaiting the deceptively silent devastation

of the oncoming storm.

 

 

Mitchell Waldman

Mitchell Waldman's fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in numerous publications, including  Ariel Chart, Fictive Dream, The Waterhouse Review, Crack the Spine, The Houston Literary Review, The Faircloth Review, Epiphany, Wilderness House Literary Magazine, The Battered Suitcase, and many other magazines and anthologies. He is also the  author of the novel, A Face in the Moon, and the story collection, Petty Offenses and Crimes of the Heart, and serves as Fiction Editor for Blue Lake Review. A new story collection is due out from Mitchell in 2021. (For more info, see his website at http://mitchwaldman.homestead.com).