I sit there alone and stray,

A bonfire for company

And the trees looming far up away

The branches are crude stitches against the fabric of stars

The night sky- a forbidden prisoner

Lying helplessly behind the bars

The trees are alive, or so the village folk said

But oh! There I see a patch of blue, deep blue sky

Spared by the boughs overhead

The moon is a shy bride

slipping behind the clouds then and now

its serene and it’s white

to it the pearly clouds bow

But down here, my skin crawls

as demons bare their fangs,

I can feel it, feel it all

In the way those dead leaves hang.

I feel it in the shivers down my spine

In the very air I breathe,

Fear trickles in, slow and fine

The menacing orange flames seethe

making my eyes water,

Warm tears spill down my cheeks

Now burning hot, hotter…

Oh the air! How unholy it reeks…

SNAP! Goes a twig.

I can sense those demonic eyes,

Right behind where I sit

Ready, waiting- it lies

For this quivering little mortal

Growling a growl low and feral

my senses go numb

Heart in my throat

Ears filled with blood’s hum

My soul already afloat

…Here comes death

But before that, I crane my neck

For a last glimpse of something earthly- The moon, the skies….

Just then a full moon sails into view and I realize…

I am not going to die, no.

It’s much worse, heck!

That is when the canines sink in the crook of my neck

Pain shoots down my entire being

As nails turn into claws

Every passing second fleeing,

With a human that I was

I’m covered with fur

What on earth?!

Everything’s a gory blur…

***

Now am I comfortably numb

Not an earthling anymore,

Can’t hear my heart’s human thrum

Now, I’m a werewolf

A big, bad werewolf…

And just before my eyes droop close

Everything sways,

But the moon above smiles

“Stay wild, Moonchild” it says.

∼∼