A Sorry Sighting Indeed.

 

Suburban Denver, driving to the store one day,

and on the lawn of a modest ranch-style home,

a coyote moving briskly passing through.

I had to take a second look for I wasn’t for sure

what I was seeing. A wretched beast, larger than

most dogs, skin and bones, nearly hairless, in-

fested with the mange I supposed.

Had to be a coyote, though, I had never seen one

in that condition before. Must have come from the

wilderness area nearby.

A pathetic creature, that one, malnourished, splotches

of fur, tongue hanging to the side, running wild in search

of something to eat, I’m guessing.

Exposed, out in the open, nowhere to hide. And I,

on my way to the store to find food for myself to eat.

The mange seemed to me a sorry condition indeed.

                           -30-

Chris Hanch 9-18-2020