Scapegoat
The alpha wolf chooses his mate
For life, & the other she-wolves
Stare at the ground. Yellowish
Light drains from notorious eyes
Of the males, stealing their first
& last sex. The pact's outcast,
The albino we humans love,
Whimpers, wags his tail,
& crawls forward on his belly.
He never sleeps at night.
After pacing down thorny grass
Where the alpha male urinated,
A shadow limps off among the trees.
Already sentenced into wilderness,
As if born wounded, he must stand
Between man & what shines.
Yusef Komunyakaa
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