Coyote's Lament
Coyote’s Lament
I was born a dreamer of impossible dreams
I was born with a desire to explore:
To create a life the way I want to -
To live while not giving up the self I adore.
Yet, I was born with a big heart
I love people so much and get so attached.
I want to run and play, nip and yowl
Yet, I am kicked and hit. I am a nuisance.
Sometimes I meet people who will join me
They run and play for a while
But the moment they fall and twist their foot
They say that I am to blame!
“Coyote, your play is dangerous!”, they say
And they run back to the village in a huff
“Don’t play with coyote because he’s crazy!”
So I whimper to the wilderness and run with the Wolves.
Sometimes, I get hungry and I want to hear a human story
I must wear a coat of night to get close
But if my hood falls off, they will try to shoot me
So careful I must be, I cannot trust most.
No ones like playing with the coyote after they get hurt
After they trip on their own shadow and
Pierce themselves on the Prickly Pear
Everyone says “Coyote made me do it!”
“Coyote, your play is dangerous!”, they say
And they run back to the village in a huff
“Don’t play with coyote. He sticks you with Prickly Pear!”
So I whimper to the wilderness and run with the Wolves.
No one likes me when I get hungry.
“Come share the chickens with me.”, I say
But they get mad and shoot me, saying
“Coyote, you eat all the chickens! Go away!”
“Coyote, your play is dangerous!”, they say
And they run back to the village in a huff
“Don’t play with coyote because he eats all the chickens!”
So I whimper to the wilderness and run with the Wolves.
I run all night and run all day, always seeking for adventure.
Then one day, on a hunt for rattlesnakes
I met a wolf pack wandering the wilderness wastes.
I shook and I hid. (Coyote feared for his life!)
But the wolf pack did not have a taste for coyote
For they were quite intelligent and knew how
To take down the great herds of bison and elk
So coyote followed and learned from them.
They grew used to my little shadow following
Each time they moved the pack and played
I so wished I could join them but I feared
And I dared not gamble my life away.
So for years I kept wandering into town
Then fleeing back out to the wilderness alone.
I followed the wolves for a time
As a benevolent protective shadow.
Then one day, I was watching from a bush
The new pups and yearning to play.
I saw the shadow of the eagle first and yipped
Wolf Mother rose in alarm and hid the pups away.
Now I feared they would come to hunt me down
I had got too close to their den!
So I ran to the briers and dove deep
Into my home of thorns again.
Yet later, Wolf Father quietly came sitting close by
In his eyes a dark kindness as he turned to say
“Fear not, Little one. You’ve watched our backs.
You protected our pack. You, Coyote, are welcome to stay.”
- Christina Marvel
I was born a dreamer of impossible dreams
I was born with a desire to explore:
To create a life the way I want to -
To live while not giving up the self I adore.
Yet, I was born with a big heart
I love people so much and get so attached.
I want to run and play, nip and yowl
Yet, I am kicked and hit. I am a nuisance.
Sometimes I meet people who will join me
They run and play for a while
But the moment they fall and twist their foot
They say that I am to blame!
“Coyote, your play is dangerous!”, they say
And they run back to the village in a huff
“Don’t play with coyote because he’s crazy!”
So I whimper to the wilderness and run with the Wolves.
Sometimes, I get hungry and I want to hear a human story
I must wear a coat of night to get close
But if my hood falls off, they will try to shoot me
So careful I must be, I cannot trust most.
No ones like playing with the coyote after they get hurt
After they trip on their own shadow and
Pierce themselves on the Prickly Pear
Everyone says “Coyote made me do it!”
“Coyote, your play is dangerous!”, they say
And they run back to the village in a huff
“Don’t play with coyote. He sticks you with Prickly Pear!”
So I whimper to the wilderness and run with the Wolves.
No one likes me when I get hungry.
“Come share the chickens with me.”, I say
But they get mad and shoot me, saying
“Coyote, you eat all the chickens! Go away!”
“Coyote, your play is dangerous!”, they say
And they run back to the village in a huff
“Don’t play with coyote because he eats all the chickens!”
So I whimper to the wilderness and run with the Wolves.
I run all night and run all day, always seeking for adventure.
Then one day, on a hunt for rattlesnakes
I met a wolf pack wandering the wilderness wastes.
I shook and I hid. (Coyote feared for his life!)
But the wolf pack did not have a taste for coyote
For they were quite intelligent and knew how
To take down the great herds of bison and elk
So coyote followed and learned from them.
They grew used to my little shadow following
Each time they moved the pack and played
I so wished I could join them but I feared
And I dared not gamble my life away.
So for years I kept wandering into town
Then fleeing back out to the wilderness alone.
I followed the wolves for a time
As a benevolent protective shadow.
Then one day, I was watching from a bush
The new pups and yearning to play.
I saw the shadow of the eagle first and yipped
Wolf Mother rose in alarm and hid the pups away.
Now I feared they would come to hunt me down
I had got too close to their den!
So I ran to the briers and dove deep
Into my home of thorns again.
Yet later, Wolf Father quietly came sitting close by
In his eyes a dark kindness as he turned to say
“Fear not, Little one. You’ve watched our backs.
You protected our pack. You, Coyote, are welcome to stay.”
- Christina Marvel
