what did you think was going to happen?

skulking out along the treeline

i cut a feral figure

shallow creep of cold

the frost crust of the snowbank

paws crush through

and you liked the shape

of my rambling tracks

you’re not supposed to approach

the wildlife

that’s not a metaphor that’s 

an actual rule

hide riddled with fleas

you didn’t look that close

if you’d pulled my lip back

examined my teeth

i could’ve snapped and snarled

and sent you home

dripped blood hiss

against the snow-soft quiet

been done with this whole business

but you saw that feral figure

thought i could show you how to move

like that like 

hackles up spine sharp

you saw hungry eyes

and read desire but

my hunger is mean

a ripped flesh kind of hunger

new moon sclera glint

set straight grip skull and

know to name her predator

my kind of hunger

can’t be diluted through you

i thought this was evident

you didn’t deign come close

to fetch the flesh you covet instead

laid down iron teeth in my well-trod wake

snapped shut bone bruise sinews quake

let me be clear

i will chew off my limb

what did you think was going to happen?

skin is so

flexible it twists

around my molars got to

clamp down pull rip

scrape fascia slice through

hit vein hot spurt my blood

splashes back down my throat

chew through ligament

tendon tissue

cracks ice chipped down past

muscles made that rambling gait

you liked the shape of that

jaw bone numbed up

sparked up fuzz shot vision

crunch through crunch through

crunch blood hot spurt through crunch

i will know

the taste of my own marrow

before i will be soft for you