Lou J. Klaiber
BECOMING WOLF
He hunted
and was hunted
and he became other
than himself
he borrowed Raven to escape his enemy
It was a hard winter in his heart
and when it was over he came back to himself and saw the Wolf
within the true river
of his true heart
the hunter
gazing at his old face
and the cry of the wolf
within
©Copyright January 30, 2004 by Lou J. Klaiber
Author’s Note: For my Brothers and Sisters of Vietnam
I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed. Looking Glass is dead. Toohulhulsote is dead. The old men are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led the young men is dead.
It is cold and we have no blankets. The little children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run away to the hills and have no blankets, no food. No one knows where they are -perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children and see how many I can find. Maybe I shall find them among the dead.
Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.
Chief Joseph Nez Perce