The Trapper

They talk of death

so casually

and eye  the first wolf

 they see 

he’s standing up

but clearly he’s  in pain

it seemed to me

by the time the trapper got to him

he was laying on his side

the trap had caught him by the foot

locked tight on his stride

he had  a splendid colour

but a bit of mange he thought

its all about the fur they wear

for different shades are bought

to me to trap an animal

that lives in its own domain

that hasn’t travelled far away

from where it was born

does gain

much it seems in trappers minds

they observe a lot, and say

as this wolf came to down grief

of course it had to pay

the problem for these hunters

is they have lost track of it all

how just one death can change things

the environment on call

one predator, lost off the scene

makes a difference

to so much

and several lost to guns or bows

is really bound to touch

the  trees the forest everything

the birds the insects too

but hunters are the ignorant ones

and we all pay  that is true

the fur trade

takes its skins and acts

regardless of us all

they steal the bounty

of wild life

the retaliatory call

there was nothing it could do

he spoke of how they can kill the deer

and other rodents too

they are clinical about it

its what they have to do

they compete with the hunters

#and so get strife from them

and also from the hunters

the boys from bethlehem