THE STINK

Which are you: coyote, wolf, badger or bear?

It actually doesn’t matter.

It’s your fault, regardless of the shape you’ve taken.

You are the threat

that’s all there is to it – ‘cause

something you did startled.

And so up went the tail.

It's not long before the whole evening is

consumed by the blast,

covered with the stench of fear.

You hobble back to your hovel,

feeling defiled, and it follows, 

it clings to you like a lost child.

Your work now is to figure out how

to get the skunk out 
of everything

it got its stink into.