Running from Shadows

No one really knows why she ran in the first place.
Too many shadows? Fights for dominance?
Who can read the maps of fear?

She ran.
Less Kerouac freedom on the road,
more Harjo stranded at the river.

She escaped into the forest, a fugitive
sheltering under pinecones and needles by day,
pilfering food at night.

Sometimes in the evening
she would call her kin
just to hear them, not to return.

Her reasons remain unknown.
Most people don’t ask. Most people
assume she has no thoughts, no reasons.

Is it a true story? It ended
when they brought the bull
up the hill and pulled
her back to pasture.

Jean Janicke lives in Washington, DC. She works as an economist and leadership coach and finds her creative outlet through poetry and dance. Her work has appeared in Paper Dragon, Passionfruit, and Green Ink Poetry.