Coyote

 
Do you remember the first
time you heard Coyote?
I was afraid.

There's a myth about Coyote
in his shapshifting days
and how he invented the world
in a most antagonistic way.
 
There's no vitality without
antagonism.
Why was the devil created?

The paneling on the wall
as I lay drifting away
in childhood,
there was Coyote
in the woodcarving
sneaking up on me, always.

I look at the legend of Coyote.  
We listen to stories for
warning, and severity;
for the deeper wisdom.
It's always been this way.  

In the woods when the darkness
turns quiet, somewhere near
and far away, I hear Coyote.  
I love to hear Coyote these days.