Coyote
When Coyote speaks
the housewives listen
“is he near or far?” “are the dogs in?”
the children asleep in bed
husbands at the TV, on the internet
the housewives raise the kitchen windows
listen
Coyote speaks
from beyond the hedges
the housewives call on their cellphones
“is he there?” “can you see him?”
they turn off the lights on the deck
let their eyes, like his, know the dark
“he is in the marsh” “he is rustling the cattails”
the lights in the houses go out
one by one the housewives
slide open the patio doors
step onto the deck, trembling
texting each other
“he’s in your yard” “no, he’s in the brush”
Coyote listens
the housewives remove their shoes
step onto the lawn, ignore the wet
take off their clothes
the housewives hold their breasts, run
to the tree-line, into the dark
Coyote speaks
sniffs the air
waits
Coyote 2
Coyote speaks
The suburban husbands do not hear him
it is Monday night, football on TV
it is any other night for Red-Tube
or searching the Market on the Web
The suburban husbands wonder
why the kitchen windows are open
(the A/C is on)
why the deck lights are lit
(the timer should have turned them off)
The suburban husbands know
their wives are loading the dishwasher
have put the kids to bed
Coyote speaks
The suburban husbands don’t hear
the back doors open, the screens click shut
don’t know the minutes, the hours that pass
The suburban husbands wonder
why their wives come to bed naked, wet
why their wives smell like the dog, their feet
dirty
why their wives turn their backs, raise their warm
white asses to them
The suburban husbands ask
where the scratches are from
why their wives’ cries sound like singing
Coyote 3
Coyote waits, in the suburbs
behind the bar
Coyote waits, listens
to the housewives, to their gossip
over beer & Chardonnay
the clatter of their knives
like the click of Coyote’s nails
in the parking lot
Coyote listens, knows
they are not talking about her
she’s not “the crazy one,” or “stupid”
or “Little Miss Selfish”
Then again,
Coyote thinks, she is
selfish, wants what she wants
to roam these yards
feed her cubs
as the housewives want
successful husbands, landscaped
yards, their 2 cars
Coyote waits, watches
them leave, they are careful
how they drive
Coyote leaves, avoids
the highway, moves through
the backyards, finds
the stray cat, the dog left out
Coyote waits, crushes
their throats, silences their complaints
Coyote eats, feeds
her cubs, they sleep
In the morning, the housewives’
heads throb, blood and
Coyote’s musk on the lawn
her cubs watching from the bushes.
Dan Wilcox is the host of the Third Thursday Poetry Night at the Social Justice Center in Albany, N.Y. and is a member of the poetry performance group “3 Guys from Albany”. As a photographer, he claims to have the world’s largest collection of photos of unknown poets. His chapbook boundless abodes of Albany is available from Benevolent Bird Press of Delmar, NY. You can read his Blog about the Albany poetry scene at dwlcx.blogspot.com.