After

futile searching

the clumsy

inadequate

consolation

of a survivable wound.

A hunter

should do better.

Hunger assuaged

must exceed

agonies inflicted

lest karma

fall into

bloody

red debt.

When a bankrupt hunter

dies and blinks

into wide-eyed rebirth

the cosmic

loan shark

comes calling.

A soul howling

with broken thumbs

makes silent stalking

difficult.

Hunger rises

toward a balance

the hunter

usually fails

to understand

even when ravens

try to explain.