The Last Wolf

In her 1989 interview with Joseph Bruchac, Mary TallMountain identified three themes in “The Last Wolf.” One theme is “the destruction of the civilization we know and possibly the rebuilding in a better way. That is one possibility” (Bruchac, Joseph W., and Mary Tallmountain. “WE ARE THE INBETWEENS: An Interview with Mary Tallmountain.” Studies in American Indian Literatures, vol. 1, no. 1, University of Nebraska Press, 1989, pp. 13–21). Elements of modern urban life do not have eternal, enduring qualities in her poem. The speaker describes the “smashed warrens / of Montgomery Street” (Lines 4-5). In the 1990s, when this poem was published (and even into the 21st century), San Francisco’s Montgomery Street was known for being chockfull of people. A major stop on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) line is the Montgomery Street Station; generous swaths of people travel along this road on a daily basis—especially those commuting into the city from cities in the East Bay, like Berkeley and Oakland. However, in TallMountain’s post-apocalyptic world, the warrens—the many branches off of this main street—are “smashed” (Line 4).

Furthermore, the features of the city that remain are transformed and evacuated. TallMountain describes the buildings that have not fallen as “ruby-crowned highrises [sic]” (Line 6).