FALL NEWS
Come September, coyotes prowling first calf heifers
learn the sound of engines slowing, stopping, quitting
and the prolonged silence of a hollow point spinning
through space, speeding over dry grasses home.
A man assumes dominion, plays god, and brings
the wet and slick, back feet first, out into the light.
Head heavy, first blink, fluid-rattling life begins
limp at first, craving touch, wanting tongue.
Word gets around, mostly nose-to-nose bulletins
on the ridge trails, in the saddles above it all –
silent canine tales of fresh calves, the comings
and goings of humans and the white diesel pickup.