1
the legend is whispered
in the women’s tent
how the moon when she rises
full
follows some men into themselves
and changes them  there
the season is short
but dreadful    shapeshifters
they wear strange hands
they walk through the houses
at night     their daughters
do not know them

2
who is there to protect her
from the hands of the father
not the windows which see and
say nothing     not the moon
that awful eye    not the woman
she will become with her
scarred tongue    who     who   who   the owl
laments into the evening     who
will protect her    this     prettylittlegirl

3
if the little girl lies
still enough
shut enough 
hard enough
shapeshifter may not 
walk tonight
the full moon may not
find him here
the hair on him
bristling
rising 
up

4
the poem at the end of the world
is the poem the little girl breathes
into her pillow    the one
she cannot tell     the one
there is no one to hear      this poem
is a political poem     is a war poem
universal poem but is not about
these things      this poem
is about one human heart     this poem
is the poem at the end of the world