Food Chain - Jody Serey

Food Chain

And now the brutal night gives way to daylight,
But does not offer up the grudge that
Grasps the heart and sends the tears
As lava or
The frozen rain.

What long ago
Began the wind
Bends the beasts and
Sends the young to
Crouch inside the caves.

Flickered fires
Dance the hunts in painted lines
Clay and blood of what
Was left alive in winter;
So it comes to this:

Howling from the wildest throat
While another bared
Awaits the teeth that glint with cold
And lower towards
The warm and red of spring.