by Larry Brody
NOTE FROM LB:
Time now for a tale of the Navajo Dog herself. Listening to her words in my mind the way I once listened to them with my ears always makes me happy…just as it always makes me cry.
The Navajo Dog And The Coyotes
Only one thing there is
Scares the Navajo Dog.
“Coyotes! I hate ’em!” she said to me one day.
That night, when the coyotes outside came howling,
The dog stayed on the front porch, and barked
Back. But she shook with fear, and came in
Immediately when I opened the door.
She saw the look on my face, and growled.
“They have powers,” she said, and
When I pressed her wouldn’t say more.
A week or so later, I was driving past a neighboring
Ranch, and I saw what she meant. Standing
In front of the ranch house, bristling and bold,
Was the rancher’s German Shepherd dog, and about
A hundred yards away, in the other direction, was a coyote.
The coyote strolled closer, and the dog continued
To stand guard, but still it looked the wrong way.
At last, the coyote stood right before the dog,
Stopped,
Waited.
The dog turned its head until it faced the
Coyote directly, then sat down, and
Scratched itself.
It had seen nothing,
Smelled nothing,
Heard nothing,
No coyote at all.
The next morning, I meant to tell the
Navajo Dog all about it, and hear what
She had to say. When I looked outside
The Navajo Dog was lying on the porch, chewing
At the head of a coyote that could have
Been the very one I’d seen. The head
Was bigger than her whole body, but
She was ripping out its esophagus
With the kind of gusto she shows for
Everything, no matter how large or
How small. The Navajo Dog glanced up at me.
“Mine,” she said. “Go get your own
Breakfast if you’re hungry.”
I asked her how she’d gotten this snack,
And she chewed awhile, then
Stopped,
Waited,
Looked back up. “I am the
Navajo Dog,” she said with a shake of
The coyote’s head, and her eyes showed
Her disdain. “I have powers too.”
As she worked on this delicacy, I remembered
What it was like to be Kid Hollywood.
I wondered what would have happened
If she’d been around while
I was letting the Beverly Hills
Coyotes eat me.
Larry Brody is the head dood at TVWriter™. He is posting at least one poem a week here at TVWriter™ because, as the Navajo Dog herself once pointed out, “Art has to be free. If you create it for money, you lose your vision, and yourself.” She said it shorter, though, with just a snort.
