Coyote

street signs

the old wolf
sang her warning
alone

stood guard
still
over the valley home
that the people knew
for centuries
hers and theirs

i heard the soft
padded footsteps
as coyote wandered
down the snow
blanketed street
a patron now
of the strip mall
alleyway
night spots
neighborhoods
and cast offs

he used to be
one of the people
but he assimilated
crossed the lanes
of the big ugly
black topped highway
from the red soil

red soil
muddying his feet
weighing him down
the heaviness
of clinging earth
and heritage
adapt
adapt
padding down the black road

he passed by
with only a glance

i smelled old
like the sound
he heard ringing
high up in the hills
cedar soaked voice
not the heavy oily smell
of french fry grease
and too much liquor

i heard the warning cry
of that one up in the high country
sitting alone

i left that town
city far behind
gone home
to that valley that knows
the people
hers and theirs
mine
and let coyote
prowl those naked black streets


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