By Jacob Gray
As the icy dredges of winter reach its peak
Chitter-chatter keeps me warm.
Two bickering personalities persisting,
My mind the timid host.
Frost-burned and perplexed I say:
I’m long past sick of them
An overstayed welcome
Dirty snow.
To shut them up, I venture out for a run.
My only escape
Seems to be the rhythm of breath and step
Still, only running away.
This particular day,
I hear a soft plodding beside me.
I look and see a coyote
Matching my stride
No more than five feet away,
It moves purely uninhibited
So, likewise, I do not try to hide.
I find nothing to fear and nothing to
doubt.
Its gait is so very light,
And with every step, there are moments
When each paw is simultaneously
Suspended in air, gliding
Upon the freshly laid snow.
It runs with me the half-mile home,
Pausing, on the road, to look
Back at me.
Staring, regarding each other.
Time, standing still, waiting–
Until it turns its head, lopes
Off the road, and disappears.