The Wolf in Me | Ginny Lowe Connors

MONTHLY MUSE WRITINGS & AWARDS


WINNER: “The Wolf in Me” by Ginny Lowe Connors of West Hartford, Connecticut
TOPIC: Fear
STORY/ESSAY/POEM: Poem
MONTH: October 2017


The Wolf in Me

by Ginny Lowe Connors

 

This madness.
This wolf that won’t let go
won’t absolve me or allow me to forgive—

If I could shoot it in the heart, I would.
No. That would be suicide.
It loves me; it does.

Its teeth that shine, its teeth that lick.
A purpling wound, a twilight.
Deep velvet pleasure. And then

the shame. I’m no crazier than our shattered
precious world. Its light that explodes
leaving darkness behind.

I tried, you know. Tried turning away from its raw
hot breath. Tried locking the windows.
Folded and creased a hundred origami doves.

For an hour, maybe two, safety visited me.
Hah. Looked in the mirror and there—
my skin peeling away, the wolf crawling out.

 

 


G L ConnorsABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ginny Lowe Connors is the author of several poetry collections, including Toward the Hanging Tree: Poems of Salem Village. Connors has also edited poetry anthologies, including the recently published Forgotten Women: A Tribute in Poetry. The editor of Connecticut River Review, she also runs a small poetry press, Grayson Books.

 

 

 

 

The Wolf in Me © 2017 Ginny Lowe Connors


Find the complete list of winners and finalists here.

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