I saw the buck laid out like a busted myth—
legs folded, belly soft, ribs skyward
like someone gave up mid-prayer.
Magpie standing proud
on the chest,
all slick tail and side-eye,
scouting the seam
between meat and morning.
First day—
fur not yet slipped,
no blood, just the hush
before the work begins.
Second day—
a hole.
Third—
deeper.
Fourth—
bone.
That bird knew what it was doing.
Like it had done this a hundred times—
like it had a schedule,
a union card,
a holy assignment.
By the fifth day,
it looked like a heart
still beating
in a hollow cathedral of ribs.
It didn’t mourn.
Didn’t flinch.
Just kept carving
its wild devotion—
answering
whatever the gods asks
a creature to do
with a body,
a hunger,
and a day.
Connor Wolfe (they/them) is a writer, publisher, and advocate whose work spans over two decades and fourteen titles. They are the founder of Wayfarer Magazine and Wayfarer Books, independent platforms committed to amplifying voices from the margins. Wolfe’s literary contributions have earned six Pushcart Prize nominations, the Gold Nautilus Medal for Poetry, multiple Foreword Review Book Awards, and the Nautilus Silver Medal in 2022. Their innovative approach to publishing led to two terms on the Board of Directors for the Independent Book Publishers Association, a TEDx talk at Yale University, and a degree from Harvard University through grant programs.
A lifelong advocate for mental health, trans rights, and radical authenticity—the act of breaking silence to reclaim power—Wolfe stepped into national conversations following their 2018 TEDx Talk on trauma, creativity, and survival.
In 2024, they volunteered in the Collections Department at the Museum of Anthropology at Ghost Ranch, assisting in the repatriation of sacred objects under the newly updated Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. After wintering along the Rio Puerco beneath Cerro Pedernal, Wolfe is now traveling with their three-legged black cat, momo, documenting, writing, and staying in motion, as all beat poets must.
