In The Jaws

The wolf prowls through the forest
The trapper sets the trap
The wolf has pangs of hunger
The trapper has the map

The jaws snap and crush the bone
The trapper wins the hide
A lonely pain fills the air
The wolf gnaws and dies

A baby’s born of woman
With air, with food and free
Musts and shoulds are gathered
Demanded by society

The baby succumbs to adulthood
Freedom a forgotten past
The trapper gives a mortgage
The future now is cast

The car, the food, the living
The jaws snap and crush the bone
A lonely pain fills the house
Which is only theirs in loan

Forty hours are stolen
From a life with more to give
Poems unwritten, songs unsung
The trapper thrives and lives

By Will Holcomb (2016)