The coyotes loud howls
alto and tenor in the air
floating just in the morning light
A gibbous moon still hangs
and venus rising appears
as I start my walk
Always I like walking at morn
summer and winter in Tucson
the sagebrush in purple shadow
the saguaros in deep blue in the wash
So quiet, and the cholla
and ocotillo stretch, and
I see rabbits, a surprise
those quick moving cotton-tails.
I pause to turn
toward the vast sandy hill.
A rabbit stops, large dark eyes
Nary a blink, then
a twitching foot
to scratch an ear, then
a leaping run into the brush.
Like the desert itself
beautiful and fleeting
here one moment then changed--
gone.
I do miss seeing wild rabbits. It must be the owls, hawks and coyotes we have here, for in my 15 years living in our house in the woods, I have never seen even one... Not sure I'd want to be a rabbit with some of the owls I've seen sitting in trees in the yard!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful description of a very different setting than I am used to seeing.
Gosh Donna, it doesn't seem fair, we have two kinds of rabbits that populate our desert--Western Cottontails and Jack rabbits. The Jack rabbits have black tails and long ears.
DeleteSpecial moments--often fleeting!
ReplyDeleteYes, Linda. Life is fleeting, so we might as well live each moment big.
DeleteMy brother-in-law was visiting this week from New Mexico. He said a coyote came walking through his front yard in the morning last week. Both of you saw that nocturnal creature in the morning light. How fun. I love your poem.
ReplyDelete