a bloodless hunt

 the elusive wolf

our human timetables cannot synchronize

with those of wild wolves,

we can study their patterns

and guess where they might be,

based on weather, on previous sightings, on our intuition,

if they den near a road, 

in summer we can more easily find them,

we have twice been able to find ourselves

where pups are, and thus their pack,

solicitous of the pups,

we hoped for late winter to allow us

to catch them in the hunt,

and in the feasting,

instead this year bitter cold and driving snow

subdued where they could be and what they could do,

we saw them exploring a high plateau,

just over the ridge from their favorite river valley,

and then a group ventured close 

to the Yellowstone River and Gardiner, MT,

the Lupen Valley Pack,

they followed the bison and the elk down here

where grasses were more readily available

than on the high plateau of Yellowstone,

we should be satisfied 

that more than enough other wild animals

were caught in the net of our searches:

bison, elk, pronghorn antelopes,

coyotes, moose, bighorn sheep, fox, birds,

and a landscape transformed by deep and blowing snow,

we were gifted with far more wonder

than we can imagine deserving,

and, still, I wish for more wolves, closer wolves,

I wish other humans did not demand

to hunt and kill these cousins,

for it is that predatory hunt 

that increases the distance between us and them,

and makes our bloodless hunt all the harder.

by Henry H. Walker

March 3, ‘23