Page 16 - WTP Vol. X #7
P. 16
Karen Kilcup
9
Coyote
(from Nahuatl/Aztecan, coyotl)
With its mangy punk hairdo, it’s a creature of fuzzy gender. Lanky as an adolescent, brazen, shy, it lopes through woods
and fields and even over
neat suburban lawns.
Aiming a razor gaze
in search of its desires,
it cocks its head to an unheard song that thickens the pulse. It’s the son with yellow eyes who steals cars for fun
and profit; the daughter,
blouse torn as if by teeth, smoking crack with friends. Edgy pack-bound marauder,
it’s always someone else’s child, the one we hope
not to see returning home,
the one we tell ourselves
will grow out of it,
who’s always on the cusp
of something.
