The monkeys are restless in their cages
the babies worry at the bars
The women pray to their spirit gods
(the music is silenced while i look away)
Smoke of incense calls through the air
I turn the corner above the golden keep
the wolves hound the door below
the dead stand their guard
watching me with hollow gazes
He is a wolf, a wolf and a man
Taller, leaner now by moments
His fine silver and grey coat falls in long silk
Legs into arms, claws into fingers that worry at the bars
He is more vast than I can overtake
The defense glows, golden and shining brighter
My wings ache to be released, pulse behind my shroud
The guards will fade away into my shadow
They are not the cause of my fear
Acrid and alive, a stagnant pool of water in my mouth
She asks why I deign to tell her I am leaving
I do not explain that I may not return
Though new life pulses inside me
Between my shadow and the golden glow
This is a force I've never entertained
I cannot foretell the fading of this creature.
