There are times deep into the night
or by some drug
That the hidden soul escapes
And you run to find it
or to hide from it
Or you run to find it until you find it
Then you just run
I was in the woods one night
Looking around, listening
To the crickets singing their secrets
To the bullfrogs jumping on big bass strings
I had forgotten about my soul, out there
On the loose
Until we—me and Jason and Izzy
Were confronted by an invisible wolf
Disguised in the color of the night
We froze
It growled again
We ran
It chased
We ran
It ran faster
We ran
They escaped
I fell
Into the mouth of the wolf
I looked up and saw my breath
Against the flood light
On the back of the house
I heard its growl, panting
With every breath
It surrendered, exhausted
From the hunt
And I ate
Till there was nothing left
I recollected my form
And cleared my throat
I walked up to the house
Like a soldier returning from war
Trying to act like the same man who had left
Like the man among the tombs, desperately
Trying to be at home with the living
And we wondered out loud
Was it real?
Was it something we ate?
So we laughed it off
for different reasons
As a crazy trip
But my friends never again
Stepped foot in my woods at night
With me
With me
So don’t do drugs.