Be Wolf by Beatriz Seelaender I wish I were a werewolf Where does it say that girls can’t be werewolves? And why are werewolves conjugated in the simple past and in the plural? Is this a case of the Subjunctive? Is this a case of the pack? See, if I were a werewolf, such are the questions I would ask Other werewolves – and the Moon, with whom canines in general share a vocabulary. Because, unless I have been mysteriously cured of my supposed affliction, I would still be a werewolf while in human form: an action in progress. A condition latent under lunar circumstances, yet not untrue under the light. If one has been a werewolf and will, most likely, keep her shifting form indefinitely, would it not be appropriate to use Present Perfect? A beenwolf or sbeenwolf? A beewolf – not a wasp. A Beowulf? Aren’t dogs the real werewolves, in the sense that they really were wolves, yet are not wolves anymore? Isn’t a particular canine of that species, actually, a waswolf? Aren’t former werewolves werewolves to the power of two, or perhaps to the power of zero? Aren’t we already admitting to the non-existence of werewolves by putting them in the subjunctive? What about actual wolves? Are they arewolves? Is that one an iswolf? Do they refer to themselves are amwolf? Are prehistoric wolves willwolves? Or perhaps a pre-pubescent werewolf? Romulus and Remus and Mogli, wouldbewolves? I bet that’s what they’re asking the Moon Yes, I would howl about unsatisfactory grammar Even if I were a werewolf. If I were a werewolf I would ask my pet waswolf about her uncensored opinions and ask her not to pee on the carpet.
Hear Beatriz Seelaender, and other selected poets, read their poems on The Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast:
Moon-inspired poetry featuring John Peter Beck, Carmine Di Biase, Nancy Cook, and Beatriz Seelaender – Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast
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Beatriz Seelaender is a Brazilian author from São Paulo. Her fiction has appeared in Cagibi, AZURE, Psychopomp, among many others, while her essays can be found at websites such as The Collapsar and Sterling Clack Clack, where she acts as Creative Nonfiction editor. Seelaender has only recently started submitting poetry, but her poems have been published by Press Pause Press and The Graveyard Zine. Her novellas, upcoming in 2022, have earned her both the Sandy Run and the Bottom Drawer Prizes.
