COYOTE’S MAGIC (or Lamp Lighting)

The what is what matters

not the when.

Because the what 

will come, 

at the beginning, the middle 

or the end of something –

and usually 

will look a lot like 

Coyote making a magic

of its own denial and

deception. These moments

must always be met 

with a setpoint, 

and decisively

with a “no,” that‘s

a “yes” to ourselves.

It’s like turning off 

a lamp before the 

the lit match can

ignite the gas.

Before the idea of flame

hisses into fire.

RELAY RACE

People hand us batons

all the time.

We don’t have to 

take them.

We get to choose

which ones to

grab on to, where to put 

our energy,

what relay we are in

what races we will run.

We even hand 

ourselves batons. 

 These are 

the greater temptations

we face. The hardest

batons not to take.

LITTLE LANTERN OF LIGHT

Your blossom

has withered.

Your petals

are closing

around the sun 

inside. Why 

is that?

Why the sudden 

ending? I want 

so much

to know 

the answer.

But you are too busy 

closing to even 

consider my question.

Or maybe, for you

there is no 

question to answer. 

Maybe the closing

is just the most 

natural thing

to do, 

and what’s most 

familiar,

under

the circumstances. 

To expect you to

to do something different,

 to explain yourself, 

is, perhaps, 

the thing that really 

doesn’t make sense, 

and not the why

of the closing.

Still, as I witness you

vanishing before my eyes, 

something in me wants to 

shut down,

diminish my own 

light. But then 

I catch myself:

“This is not the time

to close, it’s the time

to open.

It’s the time 

to expose yourself 

to all the light 

you can, to seek it out,

bask in it

and grow it 

inside. Let this be 

the lantern 

you carry

and keep fueling. 

Never let its flame

dim or die.

Always be

blossoming.”

CAUGHT IN A CHASM

There is an animal

deep in a chasm.

How did it 

get there?

Was it chased

or chasing?

Did it not see 

the precipice 

approaching? Did  

any part of it

break 

in the fall?

What kind of 

animal is it?

Is it male 

or female? 

Or is it 

just energy

that doesn’t 

know itself

because it’s caught

at the bottom 

between

two cliffs?