Month of poetry #10: Red

It was an agreement in the end: his claws
sheathed with such force if you saw
you would make fists with your toes.
Her promise silent flowing from her chest
like stolen wine had dulled her mouth.

How it began: a red hoodie and rose
petal jam like a jar of lips. Flittery
by reputation: you're a here and therein
Her teeth: grinding like sand behind my ear.
But she knew her strength: she was no little red.

If fairy tales were up front, you would
first choose your payment method:
blood or children. Wolves don't carry
EFTPOS systems and it's proven
difficult to commodify grandmas.

So into the grey metal world, she tripped
that adamantine, that iron shod plain
like a little prairie. Hello dusk,
she crowed, Hello stars and unafraid.
He trailed her like a sister wolf, she knew.

Near the house she turned and led the dog
inside, took off both their leashes.
His surprised paws kneaded her puppylike,
they knew that after great pain,
a formal feeling comes this way only once.

Only in the tales of men do hunters kill
the wolf. If no one ever lives to tell the tale
then how does the tale get out? In stories
where wolves survive they howl
until the trees remember.

He felt her silent goodbye, her checking:
can you hear me? His muzzle lifted yes.
She remembered how she had touched the
naked wolf and whispered sometimes 
it's good to play with your food.

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Includes suggestions (many many suggestions) from:

@matchtrick: flowing from her chest like stolen wine
@pinknantucket: If no one ever lives to tell the tale, then how does the tale get out? (Supernatural)
@ReadingSheilas: After great pain, a formal feeling comes (Emily Dickinson)
@spikelynch: Hello, stars
@chantarelle: can you hear me?
@sleepingdingo: rose petal jam
@home_sewn: sand behind my ear
@ernmalleyscat: that adamantine, that iron shod plain (journal of Charles Sturt, written as weekly letters to wife Charlotte)
@timsterne: fists with your toes (Die Hard)
@eglantinescake: sometimes it's good to play with your food (Keri Smith)
@suznannah: you're a here and thereian (Georgette Heyer)
@attentive: first choose your payment method