Singing through my Wolf Bones: Poems of Reclamation & Healing

By Tianna Godsey

There exists within each of us a Dual nature... the Wild & Tame, Dark & Light, Feminine & Masculine. . . the Balance within that makes us not one or the other, but equal.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wolf Rose Press
• Release date: May 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9781952050985

Book preview

SINGING THROUGH MY WOLF BONES

Contents

Dedication

Prelude: Longing

I New Moon

II Waxing

III Full Moon

IV Waning

V Half Moon

Epilogue: Fierce

Acknowledgments & Inspirations

About the Author

Singing through my Wolf Bones: Poems of Reclamation & Healing

Copyright © 2022 by Tianna G. Hansen

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Cover image: digital collage designed by Tianna G. Hansen

Art included within: Moon, Sun, Stars: Artsolia on Etsy

Other artworks: 123rf, etc.

Wolf Rose Press

an imprint

Birdsboro, PA

First Printing, May 2022

Hardcover ISBN 978-1-952050-04-6

Paperback ISBN 978-1-952050-99-2

E-book ISBN 978-1-952050-98-5

creativetianna.com/books

for all the wild (wolf) women

who wear their fur like armor

Infinite gratitude to:

my human pack for accepting me in wolf form; and to my husband, for still loving me when I began to howl.

Dedicated with special love to

all my sisters of flesh, fur, bone & blood...

especially dear Maya, whose healing helps so many,

& to our mother, for raising us both since birth.

* * *

"Let the waters settle

and you will see

the moon and the stars

mirrored in your own being."

~Rumi

Prelude: Longing

We all have a longing for the wild.

~Clarissa Pinkola Estés

ODE TO THE WANDERING ONE

~ for Nikai

you hang back from the others, great

mysteries hidden in your eyes. white

coat like an apparition appearing

through the trees. you are hesitant,

shy and gentle. you wait for a slice

of meat to be tossed into the foggy

skies, to catch it between your teeth

hold your head low but gaze fierce

as if you hold a solemn promise to all

who view you : you mean no harm

but are in fact scared of the force

a human can bring upon you. these

woods are your home, solace wrapped

in peace, only sound the cry of ravens

hovering in tree branches, sometimes

the howl which you lift your voice to.

the gray wolves around you are your

brethren, your pack. you pace and

linger near the bleached bones of

bigger prey. hip bone from an elk,

antlers of a skull. these are what

you have taken from the wild.

vital to the ecosystem, you are essential

and full of beauty. thick tail sweeping

behind you, lithe paws, and legs ready

to pounce on your prey or in play

with pack mates. your name means

wandering one, Nikai, and you wander

through the grounds with an eager

curiosity. an element of caution but

a fuel of desire to discover, to see.

you linger close to the gates but far

enough away that you can fade into

the backdrop, into the arms of the trees

if you need their embrace. I have traveled

far to see you and the vision of you renews

my strength. I will carry the image of you

within me

always.

We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.

~ Anaïs Nin

LOVE YOURSELF WILD

~ a mantra

Love yourself—

radically and without inhibition.

Ask yourself to open your arms wide

Embrace yourself for all you are

All you have shown in every past reflection

Each journey that has led you here~

To this very moment

Where you can release all that holds you

Cages you and tries to make you tame

—Love yourself wild.

Love yourself when nobody else will.

When you begin to seek love elsewhere

First pull it from the endless wells within

Replenish yourself whole, as you always have been.

Remember all the aspects of you

Which make you feel that radiant love

Up from your belly, circling your heart

Wrap this warm energy around your soul

and know: you will soon be home.

Lycanthropy: How it Begins

Author’s Note

~

There exists within each of us a Dual nature ~ when we learn to embrace and connect with our Shadow, we discover our power. The Wild & Tame, Dark & Light, Feminine & Masculine. . . the Balance within each of us that makes us not one or the other, but equal. Once we learn to embrace this Duality, we learn how to be Freely ourSelf, an extension of the Universe. We begin to heal from all that still causes us pain (either realized or yet unknown); we harness our power within, through courage, vulnerability, and living with a Whole Heart. We learn how to Soar.

.:.

Wolves embody this Duality in infinite ways. Not only are they thought of (and vilified by pop culture and politics), as wild creatures who are dangerous and violent (and though they can be this way), their gentler, vital nature is often not shown or discussed by the media. Many of the poems in this book are in conversation with the