i.

    The study that introduced the idea of alpha and beta wolves was disproved by its own creator in 2000.  Wolves are more complicated than that, more nuanced.  Still, you find men and boys everywhere aligning themselves to this binary.  

Simplifying themselves into less than the animals they want to be.  Rendering themselves base and without structure.  Lower than animals.

ii.

Canis lupus mourn the loss of pack members— they talk to each other through sound and smell and touch.  Barking, growling, whining.  All wolves, irregardless of gender or hierarchy, work together to raise their pups.  The elders are cared for.  The young are taught.  

Every howl you hear is a call to assembly, to community.  I’m here, I’m here.  

We are better together.

iii.

Power is a primal want.  

Its requirement is fading.  So—

— you manufactured a demand.  

Dividing along gender, race, creed.  

An insignificant rush from being rude to service workers.  

A leader pretending to be better than those who put them where they are.  

The impotent begging of violence.  

The childish tantrum of a gun.  

A “display of power” only reveals its absence.

These people are not powerful— 

they are hungry for something 

that does not

exist.

iv.

Specters aren’t very filling,

and neither is 

your reflection 

in the mirror.

Shadows don’t contribute

to photosynthesis.

They don’t build

forests.

Eating appearances

won’t save you.

Neither will

the mirror.

You’re chewing on 

shards of glass.  You’re 

hurting yourself.  You’re 

bleeding—

— dying.

A starving, lonely 

wolf with a hole

in your chest.