On warm nights
My dog has taken to lying by the screen door in the bedroom
He listens and watches the darkness
He rises when the cat calls and hoopla of wild coyotes stab the stillness
Out into the night, we step together
The cackles haunt a deeper part of us - where we are not safe
Where we would be hunted
This dog knows I need him
His purpose, self-prescribed
Some evolution - away from the wildness
The retreating night returns to humming and leaf talk
He resumes his perch
Hearing the silent coyotes
Burrowing in their underground bunker a vineyard away
Wondering
Why they sound like him
And why he’s here with me
First published in Switching to ON!: The 2025 SebArts Writers Anthology AUG 2025 Wordrunner Press *print only