Coyote from Beach Practice by Veda Hille

Driving in the car at night
My husband drives
I’m on the passenger side
We are quiet, tired
The other cars are only lights
Twinned lights in the dark
I know this drive
There are no surprises
I look up and to the side
In a flash of headlights
Standing on the concrete divide
A coyote
Still
Looking to one side
I saw this for one second maybe two
No time to point it out to you
Yeah I saw this for one second maybe two
And now every time we make that drive
In my mind
A freaking coyote
Dangerous, poised, alive
Some things happen again and again
Like a dream that keeps repeating
Some things happen only once
And shine out like a beacon
Of what could come
And then you look up once and see
A different picture, how things could be
Forever still
Forever standing
On the divide
Alive

• Experimental
• folk song
• Vancouver