The Canine’s Howling At The Moon

As Adam and Eve sneaked away from
The Garden of Eden in disgrace after their fall,
shamed by their sin, their way lit by the full moon,
an angel began to cry due to the enormity of it all.

Her cry rose in intensity, rising to the heavens,
filling the world, ringing in Adam and Eve’s ears.
Other angels, despairing of Man’s paradise lost and
his life of perfection now replaced with one full of fears,
strife, and pain, joined the first angel in the crying.

Their cries blended into one plaintive wail, lingering,
becoming a howl riding the night wind. God, hearing this
wailing for Mankind’s fate, deemed it a fitting serenade
for Man to hear their howl so that he would not miss
the sorrow felt by Heaven for the future he had made.

So that Man might be forever reminded of his sinful
misdeed, of the fate that all men must now endure,
and of his loss of perfection, God gave the angels’
sorrowful howl to the canines on earth, that their pure
plaintive sound would always reach Man in his soul.

Forever since, the call of the wolf, the coyote, even
Man’s best friend the dog, upon howling at the moon
constitutes the angels’ wailing in sorrow in disguise.
Man forgot the meaning of the canine call all too soon;
today its purpose in unrecognized, hidden meaning lies.

Harry Edward Gilleland      3.31.02