CCW Finalist, Poetry

The Coyotes’ Story

They are talking about the time
of the burning of the boy
and their howls fill the night
all along the empty fields
near where the river has stopped.

It is the air
that descends from the sky
and floats down with the pine needles
onto the flames of the boy
as he crosses over.

It is a sacrifice
that no one else remembers.

The coyotes and the crows were there.
Most of them gone now
but they were with him.

Tonight, the coyotes were telling
the pain even as it had occurred
and they knew why.
Then it was quiet.

Lisa Minacci