Coyote

Typically March silver,
Typically spring gray,
Across the shimmering bay
Darkening clouds
Shroud
The Oquirrh Mountains
Making obscure
The horizon, sky, and shore,
Blending them as one.

Nearby, under a soft, emerging sun
Through the yellow, winter-killed grass
Elongated ears pass
Like miniature antelope
Hopping from one thicket to another.

I shuffled slowly to the rabbit cover
And sat silent as granite.
In Watership Down fashion,
I wanted to talk, to discover
Rabbit secrets.

So I waited
Until the bunny's fear faded.
Overhead, a gyrating hawk hovered,
Dove, and recovered
In the wind.

Then a subtle flash touched my eye,
And a rabbit whispered,
"See why
We need cover.  Look."

Fifty yards to the east
A large, well-fed beast,
Intent, erect and steady,
Stood alert and ready.

Wild and lonely, with a long, bushy tail,
The coyote was magnificent,
Proud in every way,
Soft, thick fur, yellow-gray,
Pointing ears,
A steady, black gaze,
And the speed and strength
To smack any fear-crazed rabbit
Into the ground.

The stalker, inching forward like a cat,
Dropped into the long grass and sat
On its spring-loaded legs.
Then rising to a crouch,
It sneaked forward even more.
My heart was pounding
Because never before
Had I seen a coyote in the wild.

A thousand years before
Men imagined they tamed
These wild dogs,
Imagined they became
Man�s best friend.
So we are surprised today
When Canis bite mailmen
And send them howling.

This day the rabbit got away.

� 2000 Allen Hackworth