by Phyllis Wax
Because we fear the wolves
we lock up any dog
who wanders by. Security
requires it.
We must keep our own dogs leashed,
no longer to run free. We must keep
their papers in our pockets
when we take them for a walk.
We must keep them muzzled
lest their barking attract attention,
lest the authorities think
their barking wolfish.
We must leash our thoughts,
teach them to heel patriotically.
All this to protect our dogs
and ourselves,
to protect our homeland
because we fear the wolves.
Phyllis Wax's work has appeared in many magazines and anthologies including Thema, Porcupine Literary Arts Magazine, California Quarterly, Free Verse, Wisconsin Academy Review. She co-edited the 2002 Wisconsin Poets' Calendar. Phyllis Wax lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan.