The Wolf's Message

I see the wolf of black and silver,
Fine of tooth and fleet of paw,
Long of leg and silent ever,
Green eyes watching for my fall.

He comes in shadow when my sorrows
Become heavy, and he stares.
And there he waits, cold eyes unblinking,
And my heart's flooded with despair.

Sometimes my tears, they fall freely,
Sometimes the pain's too much to bear.
But just as I fall down to my knees,
There's that wolf, just standing there.

Always gazing, never blinking,
Canines showing, feral sneer.
And I rise, my heart a-beating,
Recoiled ever back, in fear.

But once awhile my bones are heavy,
Flesh too sore to run away.
And I drag myself to shelter,
My cries keeping the wolf at bay.

But when I pull myself to water,
Bleeding, gasping, choked of air,
In the water, still and glassy,
I find the wolf reflected there.

I suck my breath and then I say,
"I am you, and you are me.
What message must you now impart?
Speak your words, and leave me be.

"Am I to live in constant fear?
Haunted by your every step?
For you're my Memory, you're my Pain.
You're my Shame, you're my Regret."

And every time the wolf replies,
"I am not Sadness, I am not Past.
I come to you when the end is near,
When your courage is drained at last.

"You may mistake me, as you see me,
For some demon from which to flee,
But I assure you, should you look closer,
That you would, happily, recognize me.

"I bear no message, and never will,
Of flight and fear, of shame and pain.
I never regret, I never look back,
But those who face me, remember my name."

And every time, the wolf reminds me,
With gentle growl and eyes alight,
"My only message ever will be
Do not give up, but stand and fight."