The Shape Shifter

She limps along the edges.
A stranger to this place,
of hot pavement and rushing cars.
The city lights hide the dome of stars,
that used to guide her way.

She dimly remembers a time,
when her coat was thick and soft
and she trotted under a silver moon
across a wide expanse of frozen lake.

She is hungry now…not just for food,
but for the smell of the marsh,
and the glow of fireflies at dusk,
even the cold silent falling snow
that drifts in clean sparkling waves.

Something compelling has driven her here.
Though years of hiding have taken their toll,
she does not falter as the full moon rises.
Crawling from her secret place she stands,
 and gazing down the road, sniffs the breeze.
The warm summer air smells like freedom,  
and in the moonlight her coat feels full and soft.

As she takes the next step of her journey,
she knows that no one will see her go.
For she is a shape shifter,
and she is me.