The Morning After

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LindaAnn LoSchiavo

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                            "The Kill of the Wolf is the meat of the Wolf. He may do what he will."
                                   — "The Law of the Jungle" by Rudyard Kipling 
                            ["The Second Jungle Book," Macmillan, 1895]

 

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The morning after, he’s aware of red,
Five knuckles glazed with dried blood — probably
That fellow jogging.  Bald.  Imagine that.

Exhaling, savagery is shorn of fuss.

His heart no longer throbbing, extra teeth
Absorbed by his accommodating jaw,
Damp chest hair curling normally
In sweaty alphabets, he stands upright,
Embalming the night’s pleasures, shame withheld —
As all shape-shifters must react.  Regrets
Rest with the moon, whose puppet he’s become.

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       Native New Yorker and award-winner, LindaAnn LoSchiavo is a member of British Fantasy Society, HWA, SFPA, and The Dramatists Guild.

          Books in 2024:  “Always Haunted: Hallowe’en Poems” [Wild Ink], “Apprenticed to the Night” [UniVerse Press], and “Felones de Se: Poems about Suicide” [Ukiyoto].
          Accolades: Elgin Award for “A Route Obscure and Lonely” and Chrysalis BREW Project’s Award for Excellence for “Always Haunted: Hallowe’en Poems.”
Twitter: @Mae_Westside
YouTube:   LindaAnn Literary: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHm1NZIlTZybLTFA44wwdfg