Once upon a time there was a wild animal
who fell in love with a young woman.
He carried her with ease
through treetops to see
the beauty of the forest and the green
solitude of his life. I will take you home,
she said. And they journeyed to the city.
She told the creature to take a bath and make
his hair neat, and explained that he needed a job
and money. The creature did not understand or
refused to understand, so she told him to leave.
But he could no longer recognise
his scent to follow the way back home, and
solitude now seemed crushing when
surrounded by so many people.