Coyote

In the pre-dawn hush brief staccato yips at the threshold of my middle aged hearing. Downstairs the dog sleeps, until she hears them then goes crazy their calls unleashing fragments of her feral past and the shivers on my back tell me she is not alone. My neighbors raise sheep. Last year they lost six lambs in one night despite fences, dogs and a miniature donkey. Yet stuck in traffic approaching the city I smile knowing they are there.