'Twas True Love** Poem by Herbert Nehrlich

White man had fouled the land of ice and snow,
his home,
their poisons driven off the caribou,
the whales
and fish to feed them all,
there would not ever be
a Native to return,
big cities had their charm
though not for wolves.

Born in a litter of fourteen,
the biggest, and a friend
to brother Selso, as the runt
he'd miss the sea
and would be searching
far, for a new home.

The Inuits called him Tireganierk***,
which translates into Fox,
due to his hunting skill
all instincts served him well.

Teeray stayed well behind,
and lived off scraps,
swept in from passing boats,
life was no joy
and food was scarce,
he aged at twice the speed,
and lost a dozen teeth
when brother Selso came
to take all but his hide.

His fur was nearly white,
when all the settlers had gone south,
the mills had closed
and no one sailed the Hudson
or the inland fjords,
when, minutes before dawn,
he spotted her, a scent
that perked his ears,
assaulted his fine nose
and made him crouch,
one paw raised just a tad,
she was a stranger,
and of great beauty, true,
he'd turn and run, avoiding her,
but she had none of it and growled,
then crossed the path
to stand before him, proud.

He sniffed, she nuzzled him,
and licked his ear,
he kept his jaws clamped tight,
she need not see his teeth,
his unkempt fur and burrs
that stuck to his long tail,
his head held low,
it was submissive
in its way, if brief,
they turned and followed
the frozen path
that led to permafrost
up near the ridge
where Hudson had his grave.

It took just days, they stayed
within opposing scents,
and touched, and licked,
he'd watch her pee
and growl his friendly growl,
then rub his flank against her chest.

She always was the one that found
and then prepared the bed,
where they would rest,
while leaning to the other hard,
and when the season came,
the last small herd of caribou
had gone, to find new land
they mated, on the frozen moss,
and there was peace,
and no conditions would be laid
or even thought, they did,
in human terms, experience love,
he, much her senior,
she, a lithe and hungry lass,
and when the litter came they knew,
it would be time to say goodbye,
their real home was ice and snow.

'Twas a cold and foggy night,
a freighter bearing flags of Norse
had sheltered in the bay,
its sailors drunk with two-proof rum,
and Teeray had been first,
to scout, then carry, one by one
the little guys into the hold,
beneath a tarpolin the farthest
they could go, far from the stern.

He knew they'd get to Iceland soon,
't would be a home of frost,
of tundras and of ancient trees,
where wolves were welcome
and allowed to hunt, to make a life.
And there they stayed,
Teeray passed on while holding
her soft paw, the little guys had grown
and carried on, with pride
and with their parents' love.



Note:

Tireganierk was called Teeray by the Inuits.