Coyotes at Four o’Clock

Animal denial—
Feet pedaling the air
As you fall to your death—

Is a well-evolved trait.
Some of your ancestors
Must have survived the fall.

A pack of coyotes
Erupts in strangled yowls,
Those yips that pass for howls,

Right outside your window
Right at coyote hour.
They’re falling. You’re falling.

Every life is falling.
Animal denial
Howls, still alive so far,

Howls, let’s just keep going
As if no fall could kill.
We’ll hit the ground running.