I dreamt the animals
brought forth each character
I sang the incantations
brought forth your stories
I tamed the mountain
brought forth every peak
I courted the moon
brought forth her light
solitary trickster
intelligent fool
my antics amuse
my ferocity quickens
my predator’s blood,
front facing eyes echo
your passions and appetites
I contain no remorse
but birth it
I show no mercy
but inspire it
I will nothing . . .
create and destroy
give and negate
in the hidden shrine
of the Taiga
tearing caribou flesh
hunting the weak
hunting the strong
I am the shaman
of the North
carrion feeder
I fight the bear
I fight the wolves
I traverse the cold
immense miles of cold
silent ice worlds
disturbed only by
the terrible cries
of this impulsive creature
Kuekuatsheu
kway-kwah-choo
Carcajou
koo-a-koo-ott-soo
say my name in
my presence
let your tongue
raise your voice to
the northern lights
within the shaking tent
we contact the spirits
my Innu atanukanas
sing songs of a people
sing songs of everything
I brought into being
Note: This poem was written in response to Victoria’s prompt at dVerse Poets Pub on anaphora poems and utilizes anaphora and epiphora. The title and poem refer to a very famous poem, The Tyger!, by William Blake.
It was relinked over a decade later for another dVerse Poets Pub prompt on forests. Please join us!


I love this .. so atmospheric… and living in the outskirts of the taiga I can relate to it a litlle. I will go north later in the summer and usually you meet Sami or at least their rein-deer… loved the refrence to Blake.
I love to reread the poem… and it does relate to things I experience when hiking the north.
oh dang…i like…would love to hear it as well…my fav stanza is the one on i have no remorse/mercy….and that last bit singing into being…very cool…the names too…i like….well done anna…another fresh perspective on the poetics too…
Wonderful incorporation of myth, poetry, and nature’s destructive/creative circle. So very glad you chose this to share with us, Anna.
Such a pace, and so suspenseful! I can hear it. Really a stunning poem!
I really appreciate your poetry in language I understand… this flows perfectly!
I love this!
Fantastic! The rhythm and pacing quickened my pulse and propelled me forward in the read and the langauge, cultural lesson and the very primal feel of the scene plain kicks butt. Enjoyed.
You have really rocked the prompt, Anna.
I want to study the pieces side by side. When I read your first and last lines with each other, I get all tingly. So clear, so tactile. Brilliant, every word.
Kuekuatsheu
kway-kwah-choo
Carcajou
koo-a-koo-ott-soo
say my name in
my presence…. wow…shivers..what a very cool piece anna…love the whole mood in this as well
loved the feel of ritual and the litany in this beautiful work – wonderful, Ana – K
It’s amazing that there are elements that can wield influence and power over others using fear! This happens all the time. Check and balance is necessary otherwise bad elements go unheeded. Great write Anna!
Hank
You mention Blake, but the poem has a Whitmanesque feel to me – with the repetition – well done k.
I like the exploration into animal spirits. Vicious little creature, that wolverine.
this is stunning and quite entrancing. it definitely sucked me in. I think the repetition help in that matter.
I love the tribal feel of this, like drumbeats far off in the night. I have missed my visits here.
I love anaphora. I like what it does for the atmosphere of a poem. It helps build a connection for readers who have never experienced the world being described in the poem. This was a very lovely read.
A beautifully written poem, Anna. This guy looks like a cross between a marment and a skunk with a little badger thrown in for good measure! Not one to tackle with for sure!
The shaman/ess is way deep in the well of poetry that upflows in us, where naming is sacred knowledge and song transits the heavenly tree and back. Bringing into being, incarnating, healing wounds, exacting a sharpness of description of our body in this world. Queen of the feral taiga. A blast from the past here, so many names in the comments now gone to the digital dead.
Very evocative, Anna, and spell-like. I love the thought of courting the moon and bringing forth her light, and the way tricks and antics are juxtaposed with the violence of ‘tearing caribou flesh’ and fighting bears and wolves.
Beautiful incantations and the verses sing the songs of the people. I feel a bit weird reading the past comments but that is life, we move on. Take care Anna.
This was like hearing a song. Beautifully written. Thanks for the photo of the wolverine. I have never seen one.