Werewolf Dream

Last night I dreamt there were wolves about my city in the night. I asked someone why, and they told me where werewolves come from. Not from a bite, before that.

***  

They choose you. The wolves, they speak to you
in dreams, from beyond the threshold of haven's home:

We are the princes of the night-forest.
Run with us, dance with us.
Kill what you eat with your own teeth.
Down the road, the farmer,
you know him, but not well.
Unlatch the fence.
Open the door to the chicken coop.

In the deepest hour, a butchering.
A flock reduced to ruby feathers.
The wolves, of course, keep their word.
You dance with them in the night.
You learn to take their shape.
From here, it spreads with violence, it spreads
with blood and it spreads
with teeth. But where it starts,
at patient zero, it is born of an act of love.

wolf -- by alice