"Kindred Stranger"

"Kindred Stranger"

The fire fades to embers as I listen
to the sounds of the forest night.
Crickets create a loud chorus
as owls and the breeze add their
own harmonies.

An injured animal waits for
a pause in the night's song
to let up it's pained complaint,
and as I listen, a chill crawls
up my spine.

If I were to make a sound
to express my feelings right at
this moment, that is what I would
sound like; dangerously loud and
wild... And alone.

The knowledge that something
out in these woods feels the same
way as I is strangely comforting,
and I go to bed feeling as though
I'm not completely alone in the world.

When I wake up in the morning,
I know my pained friend made
it through the night. We suffered
together, that animal and I, and
we both survived.

c.2009 Steen Krause