Yellowstone late February

 getting through the day

late February we found our way to Yellowstone,

to our favorite valley, Lamar, and watched as snow blanketed it all,

we hoped for wolf revelations on this trip,

the wolf hunt to be enabled by great snows

that burdened prey more than predator,

instead we watched

bison, elk, pronghorn, coyote, mountain sheep, 

endure,

many moving down in elevation 

to where getting around was easier, 

as was finding food,

we watched solves move and seek advantage, 

but no thrill of the hunt, 

no exhilaration of the kill before us,

like humans, most of their time

was enduring, preparing, eating, resting,

just quietly working to have a good day,

our experience pretty much encapsulated by a moose we watched,

alone, below zero, in the snowy shrubby willows,

just getting through its day,

like most wolf hunts, our hunt for the wolf

had more of the grand effort

than of the grand result.

by Henry H. Walker

May 23, ‘23