Into the Forest
Some of the liveries…are of people who do service so that they receive them as wages,
such are the custodians of the palaces, the guardians of the royal temples,
the pipers, the seizers of wolves… The Dialogue of the Exchequer(1177)
The seizer of wolves having only
daughters led them into the forest,
isn’t this how most tales go?
Distrusting the strength of their
bow arms, he kept them from arrows,
showed them how to lay traps,
how the depth of the pit must
be just so, how the scent of some
leaves lull wolves to sleep,
how to build and bank fire,
live in its circle, let it toughen
their skin as they let go of pity.
It is said that their eyes grew
yellow, their footsteps more
silent as they passed by in livery,
mimicking the branches of rowan,
all ghost bones of ghost daughters,
sewn with the sinews of cubs.
Linda McKenna’s debut poetry collection, In the Museum of Misremembered Things, was published by Doire Press in 2020. She has had poems published in, Poetry Ireland Review, Banshee, The North, The Honest Ulsterman, Crannóg, Acumen, Atrium, One, The Stony Thursday Book.