Wolf, Keki N. Daruwalla: Summary, Analysis & Themes

"Wolf" by Keki Daruwalla delves into themes of fear, myth, and the loss of innocence through the portrayal of a wolf that haunts the speaker’s past. The poem juxtaposes the natural majesty and danger of the wolf with the more mundane and destructive realities of modern life. It reflects on how mythic fears can intrude upon and shape our childhood experiences and the impact of their loss in contemporary times. Wolf by Daruwalla Poem Text Fire-lit half silhouette and half myth the wolf circles my past treading the leaves into a bed till he sleeps, black snout on extended paws. Black snout on sulphur body he nudged his way into my consciousness. Prowler, wind-sniffer, throat-catcher, his cries drew a ring around my night; a child's night is a village on the forest edge. My mother said his ears stand up at the fall of dew he can sense a shadow move across a hedge on a dark night; he can sniff out your approaching dreams; there is nothing that won't be lit up by the dark …