Response to a Poem - "Windigo"

The poem that really hit me the most was "Windigo" by Louise Erdrich. I don't know exactly why, but it really made me feel something. Maybe because right as it starts out, it seems as though this "creature" is speaking to a small child. "You knew I was coming for you, little one..." (Erdirch, line 1). It actually made me think of my little brother and sister and how I would go crazy if something ever happened to them. I think this is about a beast of some sort. Taking this child away from home. Not even by force, but by louring him/her out. "But I spoke in the cold trees: New one, I have come for you, child hide and lie still" (Erdrich, lines 9-10). After this, the creature takes the child away.
I think many people have this fantasy in their head about the terrible things that could be lurking out there in the world. This poem really speaks to a lot of people, I think, because the "beast" that is being referred to in it may not be an actual creature. It could be anything that is stealing your child away. Or even anything that scares you, such as death.

This Windigo creature seems almost alluring. He steals this child away and then takes her on this exhilarating ride through the forest. I fell like this is the most terrifying kind of beast. The one that makes you feel safe, as if you should be going with it. Then again, at the end of the poem, he brings her back home. “…Until at last morning broke the cold earth and I carried you home” (Erdrich, lines 23-24). It felt like this might be some kind of dream. It kind of actually reminded me of Where the Wild Things Are. The mother calls out for supper, this child goes off with a beast, and ends up right back where she started. I had a hard time deciding what I really felt this poem meant.

Erdrich, Louise. Windigo. 1984.

This is actually a nice song kind of about the legend of Windigo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy9OZKNAsIA&feature=related

This is actually kind of terrifying, so if you don't like scary things, I would suggest not watching it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCowv35qmB8