picaro - the beginning...

she was lazier than people gave her credit for ~
                                         dunja's epithet

coyotes are often called picaros..rogues..
no social graces..
rarely holding a job..
untouched by the false rules of society..
on the edge of edges ~

i am sympathetic to coyotes -
when others are bad mouthing them,
i find myself in their corner..
look..
i don't want coyotes gobbling up cats, dogs or babies..
yet they do have a right to be here..

as far as the conservation rate -
they are the least concern category..
which i think means no one gives a damn about them
and they would be better off gone, gone, gone.
i don't like the sound of that for any living creature ..
slugs included -

i have see a pair of coyotes
sitting in the tall grasses on one side of the freeway..
the sun dazzling their flaxen coats..
the look on their faces one of..
how the farnbang are we going to get over
to the other side before nightfall?

i have seen a solitary sitting on the border of the slough..
ears up, camouflaged in the reeds..
the sun warming the fur collar she wears with panache..
meditating on the nature of reality
well, why not?
who doesn't..
no hunger to move her off her mark
most awake, most aware..

i have caught one on the bike path
finishing up the morning's ablutions..
caught in the act, caught by surprise
yip and a jump back into the brambles -
i beg your pardon!

i have seen the stealth lean one stride across the path in the forest..
mama shushing the kits, skimpering on a fallen tree, back into hiding..

we are outsiders on the inside of our lives..
or is it .. insiders on the outside of our lives..
either way,
we are the rogues of margin..
the fringe rascals..

coyotes are my dharma pals..
seeking a low status, one does not fall far..
i would/could not be anywhere else...

....dig into the narrow place that has been given to you..
you will find god there...
                          ~ gustave thibon