The Hunter

 


The Hunter

By: Brendan Cadman

An icy tundra where snow cracks like thunder under bleeding paws,
a hunter walks alone along a frozen lake,
with piercing eyes cutting through the blizzard's haze,
searching for a different answer to his seemingly predetermined fate.
Scanning the field laying dormant under a blanket of white,
his focus cuts cleaner than a freshly sharpened blade,
only to be broken by an empty promise of what would be a welcomed sight,
from the feint echo of snapping twigs and falling sleet.
He scours the cruel terrain hardened by winter's frosty grip,
continuously searching until gray skies break from the low sun of spring,
yet nothing is found in the valleys and rolling hills of green,
despite the enchanting ballad that blossoming flowers sing.
His desperation weighs him down like an anchor rusting at the bottom of the sea,
taunted by the bones of a freshly enjoyed meal as he picks at unfulfilling scraps,
growing weary from the lonely silence that stabs his bleeding heart,
while an empty stomach rumbles as loud as a runaway train tearing off the tracks.
The vegetation withers and turns to ash from poisoned soil, 
as the ribs locked in their cage attempt to feel his emaciated physique,
his vision blurs from the toxic thoughts tumbling like rocks in his mind, 
as he faints and stumbles beaten down from the endless years of toil.
Seeking shelter from pouring rain trying to drown him with every drop,
he lies under a makeshift home of low hanging branches,
succumbing to a destiny that he could not stop,
closing his eyes as the dark clouds of hunger start to swallow him whole.
Pulling himself back to his feet he shakes the cobwebs free,
to his surprise he finds reprieve from a stone that remained unturned,
down a path that was hidden and now removed of its sticks and leaves,
he wobbles along the foreign way where danger remains unseen.
Armed with a new perspective in a place he never thought to look,
he cautiously stalks a white tailed deer before going in for the kill,
howling in delight and basking in the silver glow of midnight's moon,
he fills his stomach as dopamine swarms his body from the unfamiliar thrill.
His feast is interrupted by an approaching unseen force,
the intruder's glowing yellow eyes explode out of the shadows,
until the moon's light reveals a familiar figure much like his own,
he invites the fellow starving hunter to dine along his side,
displaying an uncharacteristic nature full of compassion and remorse. 

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