Creative Traditional:

[lasher]

A Day in the Life of… Caribou

Lumbering through the darkness, a band of
caribou venture across the tundra;
their stiff coats, heavy with snow, appear as
ghostly drifts against the harsh northern wind.

Leaving the herd, a calf noses around
an ice heave for moss and lichen, naive
to the grim dangers of separation.
The herd forged on, its mother unseeing

in the dismal night. From instincts within,
the calf’s senses pique as three shadows, mad
with famine, advance on their helpless prey.
The calf bolts, its guttural blare belching

into the night, pleading for its mother,
seeking rescue and safety from the herd.
Its maddening bleats, swallowed by the wind,
goads the ravenous pack close at its heels.

The chase is short; the calf is no match for
the seasoned hunters. Frothy fangs biting
into its shin halts the loping stag and,
rearing, its scream stifled as another

mouth guzzles from the punctured jugular.
The calf feels nothing as the third bores its
nose into the lower stomach, wrenching
its warm entrails still pulsing with its blood.

The wolves consume everything, leaving
no trace that the caribou existed,
then resume their insatiable blood sport.
Far off, a mother searches for her young.

[MsJacquiiC]

This was intense! I felt almost hopeless as the baby wandered away to get eaten.
Your last line so nonchalant as if truly, merely a day in the life, epitomize the title.
All makes for an interesting read. Thanks for the share

Jacquii.

[PaintedDiary]

Wow Lasher ! Yes indeed...in the life! This truly played out in my mind. Very interesting also because just before Christmas break, I was teaching one of my classes about Natural Selection and Survival of the Fittest in the open African Savannah, and this put me back in the fields. Very passionate, fervent, and heartfelt. Extreme nature at its best. Thank you Lasher for the read.

PD

[lasher]

Thank you MsJ, I was hoping to elicit feeling for the calf - that's the way it goes; one mistake could be costly....

Thanx PD, what's better than nature? Lucky students, that must've been a fantastic class. This was fun to write.

[MsJacquiiC]

The Following Text Is Quoted:

Originally Posted by lasher

Thank you MsJ, I was hoping to elicit feeling for the calf - that's the way it goes; one mistake could be costly....

Oh don't I know it! What's interesting is that the poem read so quickly and intense - that I really wasn't feeling much for the calf ((gasp!)) -- I only thought, "That's the way of the world = survival of the fittest = dog-eat-dog, or in this case: wolf eat caribou" LOL

But I was not without compassion though - I felt compassion for the mother - that last line was poignant.