Happy Poetry Friday! I’m in Florida visiting family for a few days, and I’m a bit out of the loop–but I’m glad you’re here! Here’s another poem from my new 30 Painless Classroom Poems book, A Need to Feed: Poems of Predators and Prey.
Note: In the Arctic tundra, wolves chase huge caribou herds across the snowy, frozen ground. Very young, very old, and ill caribou are at the greatest risk for getting separated from the herd and taken down by wolves.
A Note from the Poet:
Sometimes it’s fun to use a comparison throughout an entire poem instead of just in one line. Here, I’m comparing the hunting of caribou to a dance between the wolf and the caribou. The words that relate to dance are “dance” (no surprise there), “swirl,” “whirl,” “dip,” and “dance” again. For the caribou, it’s the last dance:>(
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20 Responses
The dance seems brutal, yet beautiful! Well done!
Linda, I cover my eyes when nature specials get to this part. I am still a bit flummoxed by how I came to write an entire collection of poems around this general topic!
The dance seems brutal, yet beautiful! Well done!
Linda, I cover my eyes when nature specials get to this part. I am still a bit flummoxed by how I came to write an entire collection of poems around this general topic!
Poor caribou! Great poem.
Thanks, Catherine!
Poor caribou! Great poem.
Thanks, Catherine!
I love the rhythm in this, Laura, and your communication of the relationship. Though tragic to us, it really is nature’s dance, isn’t it? Love “we cut thin breath”.
Thank you, Linda–yes, hard to witness, but part of such a beautiful world…
I love the rhythm in this, Laura, and your communication of the relationship. Though tragic to us, it really is nature’s dance, isn’t it? Love “we cut thin breath”.
Thank you, Linda–yes, hard to witness, but part of such a beautiful world…
Laura, you are a true poet 🙂
Aw, thank you, Donna:)
Laura, you are a true poet 🙂
Aw, thank you, Donna:)
Linda’s right. You’ve made this dance of death sound beautiful, especially the whirl and swirl of the caribou as they try to escape. Can’t wait to read more of these predator and prey poems!
Thank you, Catherine. The video I watched of one hunt was really haunting. Sad, but a fairly amazing display of the struggle for survival on the part if both the wolves and the caribou…
Linda’s right. You’ve made this dance of death sound beautiful, especially the whirl and swirl of the caribou as they try to escape. Can’t wait to read more of these predator and prey poems!
Thank you, Catherine. The video I watched of one hunt was really haunting. Sad, but a fairly amazing display of the struggle for survival on the part if both the wolves and the caribou…