I search for the wildness still living in me
Listening for my wild kin calling out
With joyful memories of being clothed in fur and scales and feathers
Reminding me of what it means to be deeply a part of this earth

We are brothers and sisters of blood and bone and flesh
My wilderness family
Birthed from the same mother
Destined to eat and breathe and love and die as creatures of this land

I can’t truly know myself without your growling, slithering, cawing presence
I can’t feel my soul without also feeling yours

But the bond has grown faint
I haven’t howled in pain or grief or joy for more moons than I can remember
I can no longer see in the dark
Or catch your scent on the wind

My spirit weakens at this unnatural separation
I cry out in desperate longing
Where did you go?
Where did I go?

I miss my paws
I miss my claws
My thundering hooves
My fully unfurled wings

I want to go home
Some part of me whispers
I want to go home
Another part of me shouts
I want to go home
To be where you are

I need to find you again