The flames curl round the logs that burn

In hearth of cozy mind

The coals beneath the glowing grate

Still spread the warmth through floor

I sit amongst the riches 

Which collected in my life

Yet all about can’t save me from

The wolves outside mind’s door.

I’ve bought the ox and fatted calf

And left them for their meals

To try and sate their hunger

So they’ll just leave me alone

Yet they circle as an endless pack

Relentless in their quest

To enter in to soul’s last keep

And gnaw me to the bone.

No intellect or knowledge

From all that I have learned

Seems good enough to keep at bay

This scourge that life has sent

To tear the joy I had in life

Now all seems just for naught

Best efforts to appease their need

Will not cause them to relent.

I pray for some sweet angel

To descend and offer aid

To tip the scales of fairness

Trying to even battle’s score

To show a path that leads away 

From painful tears and hurts

Yet all I hear are mournful howls

From the wolves outside mind’s door.

By James Geehring

From: United States