Startled Coyote

They can smell a human a mile away
So they say

We came upon him on our ride home
On the Tucson Loop

Soundless except for the hum of bike chains
And tires on pavement

He rose from the shadows under a Mesquite
Apparently startled

Mangy, thin, hungry looking, surveying us
Warily as we approached

Quickly veering toward the ten foot river bank
And a narrow escape path down

He slips over and down to the dry riverbed
And is gone

I called to him, but alas, he didn’t
Respond

–LE – 1/14/24