The White Wolf

by Amelien Fox

The snowy ground shines with the white moon
My silent paws are the only mark in the wilderness
The pines tower over the sky further than I can reach
In the distance my pack lie together

But I am alone
I howl to the moon
Letting the anger out of me
All the past I leave behind
And I will go now
Like the silver phantom
I will run with the song of the wind
Leave my pack
For I am the white wolf

This poem was highly commended in the Ways to be Wilder poetry challenge ,in association with People Need Nature, on Young Poets Network (YPN) in 2016.

Judge Jen Hadfield said: "This is a strange and powerful poem. Is the wolf an outcast, because it looks different from the rest of the pack? Hauntingly, the poem seems to sing on after the last line...the best poems are often like this. I wonder how you decided on the poem's shape. You could try breaking up the lines of the first verse so they're a similar length to the second; or experiment with stitching some of the second verse lines together to make longer lines like the first. Which shape do you like better? Or is it important that the verses are the shape they are now? Whatever form your poem takes, it already sings and already rings true."

Amelien Fox

Amelien is highly commended in the Ways to be Wilder Poetry Challenge, in association with People Need Nature.