Outfoxing Coyote

by Carolyn Dunn

Coyote

is a Yurok man

who lives in a

Mormon mansion

high on a hill

in McKinleyville.

He's a storyteller,

that one.

Tells tall tales

of perfect worlds

and hard places

from behind dark eyes.

Stories fall

from his teeth

created from his mind,

he hides in this fortress

hides behind the stories.

And the stories don't

always have endings.

Behind white pillars

high on a hill

away from

prying eyes

and

praying hands,

he looks through eyes that

face the sky

and musters courage

and protects himself

in a den

of hothouse chickens.

He comes out

once in awhile,

sniffs the air

for other food.

Once I caught him

in my yard.

He followed me inside,

sniffing,

prancing

until he smiled

his most beautiful smile.

All right,

Trickster,

I said.

I invited you in,

but that don't mean

I invited you

inside.

Here,

where my heart

is a hard, uncracked crimson stone

and dark, sweet thick red

that no light

can shine through.

A smile,

You won't crack

that stone,

Coyote,

because I won't let you.

Rocks being dropped

from high places

don't always crack

or even break.

I don't know what

the red stone means anymore,

or why it's a stone,

but I do know

that you think

you know

the rest

of the story.