A hole in the ground that I never noticed- elbow-crawling-child-sized, in the park that I have a relationship with; visiting daily. A park of fair stature for an urban environment. Never before had I noticed it, at the base on an old, rotted stump with wispy branches spurting out, paused firecracker, perky green, pleased with its nurse log, absconding stories.
I figure it’s where the coyotes live. If you’re a go-get-em’-tiger type & are up to walk through the 5am mist you’re almost certain to see them. Brazen or slender, sleek or spindly, but almost always up ahead with a sideways gait that’s impossible to misidentify.
I’m surprised by this hole; that it’s been beneath my nose for months or more. It must be. It doesn’t look like the work of human hands, but I couldn’t find evidence of tracks or bits of fur.
I pride myself on my secret keeping for others. Ask me to vault & up goes the gate. I keep this a secret lest someone want to intervene in the name of advocacy for the protection of non-native, domesticated animals; this world & its tame tendencies. I keep this a secret in spite of wanting so badly to tell of the mouth into earth appearing finally to me in my ritual place that I love & speak to. The land- also a keeper of secrets. I will take a page from the good book.
The upper field to the south, once covered in crimson clover, & plantain then pirated by menacing foxtail grasses- still a telling host of meadowlark, tangier and hermit thrush & those early coyote galavants before the hoards of running dogs & split tennis balls from cases of too-much-happy.
The great mowing that takes place reliably before each July 4th even seeped into my dreams several times. My fantasies of controlled burns to restore order there; the coyote would only have to relocate for a little while. Would they have a second den? That patch of near-wilderness permitted to reach hip level, where we walk & assist in inadvertent seed dispersal. Sleek systems of carry where we do the bidding if we’re not careful. Are there holes there too? Along the far edge?
What other secrets are being held from the secret keeper?
What's on your mind?