Wild And Woolly (Poetry)

A poem’s a strange
jungle creature
it paces the floor
of its cage
and grabs any titbit
it fancies
chews long on the carcass
of rage

It cannot be tamed
at a penstroke
refuses to lie
like a pet
but gnashes its teeth
at the feeder
its elephant brain
won’t forget

Old days roaming free
in thought’s country —
no fences, no bars
and no chains
trailing the herd’s
hoofbeat thunder
and picking through
all that remains

The flame in its eye
burns the forest
like ash forms a streak
down the page
it grows in itself
ever-larger
never feeling at rest
in a cage

So it pushes its heart
to the limit
every word adding strength
to the core
till at last
like a shadow escaping
it slips through
a dream-papered door