Complete Me

I am incomplete without:

the red fox
who shadows my tracks
leaving prints and pee everywhere
but hiding himself from sight;
the moose
whose blackness fades from view
behind a tree;
the grizzly
who announces his displeasure
at human incursion
by sitting on backpackers’ tents
as they sleep;
the white whale
whose power cannot be contained;
the raven
who opens suitcases;
the flicker
who warns
by imitating the hawk’s call;
the buffalo
who follows me discreetly
down the trail;
my collies
who comfort and delight;
the wolf
whose steady gaze
opens and searches my heart;
all
that will never be understood
manipulated or controlled