Brindled fur ruffled
the gray wolf paused
sniffing the Rocky Mountain
chinook for food, predators,
and interlopers.

Despite the tenets
of half a hundred
broken treaties, the
gunfights of sheepers
and cattlefolk over water,
and alluvial tailings
of copper & silver miners
rearranging landscapes;
small packs survive.

Lean. Wary. Watchful.
In the distance an
elk crunches the
wind warmed underbrush.

One by one wolves
ghost the landscape,
amber eyes beacons
of hope, quiet strides
of reclamation.