The Werewolf as a
Schoolboy
LindaAnn
LoSchiavo
"The
Beast might be sitting next to you at a band concert or having a
piece of pie at the Chat ’n Chew on Main Street."
—
"Cycle of the Werewolf" by Stephen King [Land of Enchantment, 1983]
My wolf-Mom warned me not to telegraph
Sorrows I could inflict on my classmates.
Horrific strength our kind possessed was kept
Like spit-shined shoes – reserved for noteworthy
Occasions. Best to cultivate restraint
When wildness threatened to unbox itself.
Tradition: Change arrives at puberty,
Instilling urges unavoidable —
Unlike before when skin was all I wore.
Curses mined the horror of too much heat.
When high-pitched howls scratched a young mind’s chalkboard,
Could inbred bloodlust ever be erased?
In dreams, the moon turned into an oyster.
My knife shucked it out of night’s mocking sky.
