When Coyote speaks the housewives
listen

“near or far?”   “are the dogs in?”
the children safe asleep in bed
husbands at the TV, on the internet
the housewives raise the kitchen windows
listen

Coyote speaks
from beyond the hedges

the housewives call on their cellphones
“is he there?”    “can you see him?”
they turn off the lights on their decks
let their eyes, like his, know the dark
“he is in the marsh”  “he is rustling the cattails”
the lights in the houses go out
one by one
the housewives slide open the patio doors
step onto the decks, trembling
texting each other
“he’s in your yard”  “no, he’s in the brush”

Coyote speaks
listens

the housewives remove their shoes
step down onto the lawn, ignore the wet
take off their clothes
the housewives hold their breasts, run
to the tree-line, into the dark

Coyote speaks
sniffs the air
waits

Dan Wilcox is the host of the Third Thursday Poetry Night at the Social Justice Center in Albany, N.Y. and is a member of the poetry performance group "3 Guys from Albany".  As a photographer he claims to have the world's largest collection of photos of unknown poets.